Raj Thackeray

Congress

Maharasthra Navnirman Sena

MNS

Thane railway station

hawkers

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

BMC

After the 15-day deadline set byended on Saturday, party men resorted to violence;slams ‘goondagiri’, says Fadnavis hand-in-glove.After the 15-day deadline set by the party to evict the roadside vendors operating in and around suburban train stations ended on Saturday,) activists vandalised hawkers’ stalls atThe agitation was led by Avinash Jadhav, president of the MNS’s Thane unit and the party's local youth wing chief Sandeep Panchange. “They did not leave the area despite our 15-day deadline so we took action,” Panchange said.Sources saidin many other parts of the city shut shop by Saturday afternoon fearing similar action by the MNS. “There won’t be any more deadlines. If the authorities fail to remove hawkers, we will take MNS style action like we did in Thane,” said MNS leader Sandip Despande.Congress slammed the MNS action and claimed that the BJP-led state government was supporting acts of violence by Raj Thackeray’s outfit.“The government should have taken precautionary measures as they knew of MNS plan to attack hawkers beforehand. Instead,acted hand-inglove by keeping silent. Even we are against hawkers at railway stations but we don’t resort to vandalism. This is plain goondagiri,” said city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam.Meanwhile, political analysts feel the antihawker drive is a last ditch attempt by Raj’s party, which recently lost six of its seven corporators in theto Shiv Sena, to stay relevant.While protesting the Elphinstone Road stampede tragedy that killed 23 commuters during a protest rally at Churchgate on October 5, Raj had asked the railway administration to remove hawkers from foot over bridges at all city stations within 15 days. “MNS workers will take matters into their own hands if the Railways fail to remove the hawkers,” Raj had said.Days later, Shiv Sena took the wind from under the party’s sails after six of seven MNS corporators in the BMC joined their fold.“MNS was gaining a bit of ground with its aggressive anti-hawker stand but the Shiv Sena’s coup hit it hard. The party lost whatever face it had. It was gaining TRP but it fell flat. It looks like Raj’s revival bid is not working as expected,” said apolitical observer.Senior journalist Uday Tanpathak said that by focusing on hawkers, the MNS had missed the bus on the fight for larger issues faced by suburban railway commuters like safety and overcrowding. “Rail commuters face a host of issues but unfortunately, things have been reduced to an agitation to evict hawkers. MNS was the only party to take up issues faced by rail commuters. They can still gain support if they stick to the big picture than cling onto just a single aspect. The MNS is down but not out, they just need to get their act together and work as a party,” said Tanpathak.Over the last few months, Raj has been on a revival course, holding a series of feedback sessions and appointing new office bearers. Raj was trying to repair the organisational network and expand his counsel. However, political observers pointed out that his plans failed to take off and the MNS cadre still remains disgruntled and directionless.