Raj Thackeray’s son to lead padyatra against stalled work on Mumbai-Goa highway

Last week, while addressing party workers at MNS’s Nirdhar rally in Panvel, Raj called for the agitation on the issue and instructed party workers to stage agitation across the Konkan region in different forms.

While giving his nod to his party workers for the protest, Raj had slammed BJP and the authority constructing the highway, saying the government is not paying heed to commuters and Konkan people who are suffering due to pothole-ridden roads and the incomplete highway. “It was 16–17 years ago when the highway construction began, and it is still not complete,” he said.

According to MNS functionaries, the party is taking out the padyatra to create awareness among citizens. They said large numbers of MNS workers will participate in the rally, and have also appealed to people of Konkan and Maharashtra to join the rally.

MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said roads in the state are ridden with potholes especially the Mumbai-Goa highway, due to which people have suffered serious injuries and lives have been lost in accidents.

“People have died but the government doesn’t care. The government has assured completion of the Mumbai-Goa highway by the Ganpati festival, but there are no signs of the completion, due to which we are holding the padyatra,” Deshpande said.

He further said that, “In the first leg, the yatra will be held from Palaspe to Mangaon, and in the second phase, the yatra will be held from Bharni Naka to Rajapur in Ratnagiri. Awareness campaigns in villages will be held from Rajapur to Banda in the third phase. We have appealed to the people of Konkan to join the yatra,” he added.