The Mumbai Congress found itself in an embarrassing situation on Saturday, as an "over-crowded" bullock cart collapsed and broke down during a rally organised by it in the metropolis to protest against the rising petrol and diesel prices in the country.
A video clip of the incident, which took place at Antop Hill’s Bharani Naka in north-central Mumbai, went viral in social media circles, prompting the Opposition BJP to take a dig at the "unstable" Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, of which the Congress is one of the constituents.
The bullock cart – on which Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap and other city party leaders were standing – caved in all of a sudden apparently due to over-weight of a sizeable number of persons occupying the cart.
Following the collapse of the bullet cart, Jagtap and at least a dozen other city party workers and leaders -- who were standing on the bullock cart shouting vociferous slogans against Narendra Modi government at the Centre -- came crashing down.
Before long, the video clips of the incident went viral on the social media circles in the city, causing considerable embarrassment to Jagtap and other city Congress leaders.
Today’s protest was part of a 10-day long sustained agitation against the rising petrol diesel prices that started on July 7. As part of the agitation, the Congress workers have been collecting signatures from the affected residents at fuel stations, rallies held in cities or towns, and during the bicycle or bullock-cart processions being taken out all over Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, taking a swipe at Mumbai Congress, State BJP’s chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay tagged Jagtap and put out a cryptic tweet: “Maintain your balance Bhai Jagtap. While providing an unstable government, the MVA’s balance is gone. If the bullocks were to disassociate themselves from the cart, then like the cart the Congress the government would collapse. Before the collapse, you better decide as to which of the two bullocks would have to be tied back to the cart”.