The ongoing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)-Sanjay Nirupam tussle over the hawkers in the metropolis took an ugly turn on Friday, as the MNS workers vandalised Nirupam’s Mumbai Congress office and the Congress workers in retaliation burnt down MNS’ flag and its president Raj Thackeray’s posters in south Mumbai.
Five days after a group of hawkers attacked some MNS office-bearers at Vikhroli in north-east Mumbai over the latter effort to force them to put up Marathi boards at shops, a group of hoodlums – apparently owing allegiance to the MNS – barged into the office of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) of which Nirupam is the president, at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai and ransacked the place.
A video of the attack on the MRCC office showed that half a dozen goons smashing the glass partitions and doors at Nirupam’s party office using lathis.
Accepting responsibility for the attack on MRCC office, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande tweeted in Marathi that his party workers indulged in a “surgical strike” on “bhayya (north Indian) Sanjay Nirupam’s office” and described the attack as “Et ka jawaab pathar se milega” ( responding to a brick attack with stones).
Within hours after the incident, the Azad Nagar police registered an offence and arrested Sandeep Deshpande and five others for alleged rioting and destruction of property at the MRCC office.
Not to be outdone, the Congress workers raised vociferous slogan against MNS president Raj Thackeray and made bonfire of his party’s flag and his posters in south Mumbai in protest against the vandalisation of the MRCC office.
Condemning the incident, MRCC president Sanjay Nirupam tweeted: “I can understand the frustration of #MNS, whose workers r being beaten up by Hawkers regularly. Their attack on our office is a coward act. CM @Dev_Fadnavis must act fast or a befitting reply will be given for sure”.
later, talking to media persons at Gujarat where he is campaigning for his party candidates contesting the Assembly polls there, Nirupam said: “The attack on the MRCC office had just opened in the morning. There was no one there at the MRCC office when the coward MNS barged inside and vandalised the place. I condemn the cowardly attack. Our party office is 25 meters away from the Azad Maidan police station. I do not know as to what was the police doing at that point in time”.
“I appeal to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Home Minister, to take immediate action against the MNS goondas involved in the incident. Otherwise, we also know how to retaliate. I would like to tell the MNS, whose workers indulged in attack on our office, covering their face and wearing helmets, that what they indulged in is neither politics nor it is goonda gardi. If anything it is petty mischief,” Nirupam said.
Disapproving the attack on the MRCC office, the Maharashtra Congress tweeted: “We condemn the attack on Mumbai Regional Congress office. Such cowardly acts should be dealt with strongest action. The Govt. is failing badly in ensuring security of our citizens. long live Democracy !”.
Talking to media persons, Maharashtra’s former chief minister and state Congress president Ashok Chavan condemned the incident and said: “The MNS workers have once again taken law into incident. Of late the MNS workers have indulged violence at several places have even attacked several persons. The Congress has resisted MNS’ politics of intimidation and violence. The MNS workers even tried to attack our Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam. Sadly enough, the police — instead of acting against the erring MNS workers, have shielding them”
“The kind of police patronage that they enjoy has emboldened them to attack our city party office. We demand the immediate arrest of all those behind the attack on MRCC office,” Chavan.
Condemning the incident, former Union Minister Gurudas Kamat tweeted: “Shocking to hear of vandalism at Indian National Congress - Mumbai office! To what level certain people can go is really disturbing. Even worse is to see to what extent they are protected by those in Power. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should personally ensure that 132 yrs old Indian National Congress cannot be browbeaten in this way. We demand immediate Arrest of the Goons!!”.
The MNS and Nirupam have been logger heads with each other ever since a group of hawkers — owing allegiance to the latter — assaulted badly MNS' Malad unit chief Sushant Malwade and a few others on October 28, amid its ongoing ‘feriwala hatao’ campaign in and around the suburban railway stations.
Malwade and his supporters were attacked with iron rods by a group of hawkers, when he had and some other MNS workers had gone to ‘check’ if hawkers were occupying areas in and around Malad railway station in north Mumbai.
It may be recalled that a fortnight after their party president Raj Thackeray gave an ultimatum to the suburban railway authorities to evict hawkers from their premises, MNS workers had on October 21 vandalised illegal stalls occupying the F00t-Over Bridges (FOBs) at Thane and Kalyan railway stations, near Mumbai.
The MNS’ acts of vandalism was line with an ultimatum that the MNS chief had given to the Central and Western Railway authorities on October 5, to evict hawkers occupying foot-over-bridges and other premises of all suburban railway stations within next 15 days, failing which his party workers would remove the hawkers from the railway premises in a typical “MNS style”.
Raj had given the ultimatum to the railway authorities to act against illegal hawkers occupying the FOBs and other premises in the wake of the September 29 stampede on the Elphinstone Road-Parel foot-over-bridge, in which 23 commuters were killed and 38 injured. He had also submitted a memorandum to the general managers of the Central and Western Railways.