Bandobast beats black flag brigade

Terming the visit “very successful”,he said the Congress activists would give “upfront replies” if the Sena continued with its protests like the burning of Rahul’s effigies.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had on Thursday ordered partymen to show black flags to Gandhi during his tour of the city.

Sena functionaries claimed that Rahul was forced to travel by local trains after Sainiks blocked roads near the Juhu aerodrome and the Andheri-Kurla road,ruining his plans to travel by helicopter or road.

Except for a few ‘black flag’ demonstrations in the vicinity,an efficient bandobast by the state and city police ensured that peace prevailed near the plush JVPD scheme,where Rahul Gandhi landed around 11.30 am to address nearly 1,100 students at Bhaidas Hall. While the police kept away groups of protestors from near the hall,Sena activists reportedly gathered in nearby areas like Andheri and Jogeshwari.

As many as 50 protestors were detained in Juhu. These included a group of women led by corporator Rajul Patel,dressed in black,waving black flags and shouting slogans of “Rahul Gandhi murdabad”. Sena MLAs Vinod Ghosalkar,Ravindra Waikar and former MLA and Shiv Sena secretary Vinayak Raut were also among those detained.

A clash occurred when some men in uniform stopped a group of children from entering the venue. However,the police said the issue was sorted out amicably. Around 15 DCPs were reportedly deployed in Vile Parle.

Meanwhile,at the Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Ghatkopar,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan,Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh,Thakre and others had to wait for around two hours for the Congress heir-apparent to arrive. Rahul arrived around 1.50 pm and paid tributes at the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at the spot where 10 Dalit protestors who were agitating against the desecration of the bust were killed in police firing in 1997.

Later,he addressed a meeting of youths besides meeting the victims’ families.

The police detained the Sainiks who were protesting in the vicinity under the leadership of corporator and vibhag pramukh Sudhir More.

Mumbai Youth Congress president Sunil Ahire said Rahul spoke about the Youth Congress membership drive to the gathering and said the party doors were open to all. Rahul also had one-on-one discussions with youths present at the rally,which also saw Chavan,Singh and Thakre put forth their views.

Mumbai Police officers said they had detained 342 persons in the city on Friday,of which 228 were men. They had rounded up many Sena functionaries on Thursday night also.

Crackdown
10,000 policemen on stretch between airport and the venues visited Vile Parle 112 detained under Bombay Police Act,including MLAs Vinod Ghosalkar,Anil Parab,BMC standing committee chairman Ravindra Waikar,corporators Rajul Patel and Rajendra Pednekar,party leader Vinayak Raut. Ten detained Thursday night.

Ghatkopar 128 persons detained Friday,78 on Thursday night. Friday list includes corporators Shubhangi Shirke,Ashwini Mate,Raja Chaugule,vibhag pramukh Sudhir More.

Bhoiwada 49 persons detained outside Bharatmata Theatre,including MLA Dagdu Sakpal,corporators Dilip Shinde,Vandana Shinde,Yeshwant Jadhav,Parvati Gorivale and Nana Ambole,vibhag pramukh Ajay Chaudhry,shakha pramukh Rajesh Kokam.