Raj Thackeray calls statewide strike over tolls

Mumbai: Daring the Maharashtra government to arrest him, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has called for a statewide strike on February 12 to protest against road tolls.

Expected to lead this major protest from the front, on an issue that will be a poll plank in the forthcoming elections, the MNS chief said at a well-attended rally on Sunday evening in Pune that his party will not pay for the recent vandalism of toll plazas by MNS workers.

Thackeray is facing multiple cases for instigating his party cadres to vandalise toll booths at various state highways.

Demanding that the government comes clean on toll collections, he said he was not against the idea but the way it was implemented everywhere.

He said he understood that revenue from tolls was important for development projects and could not be waived away but added: “I want to know where the money collected is going. People do not know why they are paying tolls since the government is not providing any facilities on the road. There are no service roads, not even toilets provided on the roadside.”

Other states like Karnataka had better facilities, providing bus bays and toilets every few kilometres, Thackeray said.

In Maharashtra, he said, except for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, no amenities existed for travellers. Moreover, there was no lane discipline on the highways as in Gujarat, where heavy vehicles travelled only in left lanes. Accidents are common and yet the government does not care, he added.

“If the money is going to the ministers, we will not pay tolls. We are not here to give an election fund to the ministers.”

Millions of rupees are collected daily from people not only travelling on the highways but also those living in distant suburbs who have to enter the big cities.

Daily commuters have to pay tolls in Thane, Mulund and Navi Mumbai when entering Mumbai. Even though the rules from the central government stipulate a distance of 80km between two toll posts, in Maharashtra, some are illegally placed 30km apart.

Defending himself against the criticism of letting the protests by his party workers go violent, Thackeray said he had approached Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan four times to discuss the issue but the official had said he was helpless as he was heading a coalition government.

Thackeray said he was therefore left with no option but to continue his protest action against toll collection.

Not only are MNS party cadres motivated by this issue led by Thackeray but the agitation is being widely observed by citizens as toll fees have gone up considerably in the past few years and no one likes shelling large amounts everyday.

Meanwhile, officials were gearing up to provide security across the state as MNS workers were planning to travel without paying tolls and while also calling for a shut down on the highways.