Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray threatened on Saturday that he would not allow a single brick to be laid for the construction of the bullet train in Maharashtra. He also announced that he will lead a protest march on October 5 to the Western Railway headquarters at Churchgate.
Speaking from his residence Krishna Kunj on saturday, Thackeray said that the reason behind his morcha was to express the anger of Mumbaikars against the apathy of the Railways towards the problems commuters face. In his trademark style, he even blamed the huge influx of outsiders to Mumbai as the main reason behind incidents such as Friday's stampede.
About Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, he said that changing a few people would not sort out issues. "Suresh Prabhu was performing well, but was removed, Piyush Goyal has no qualification for being a Railway minister," Thackeray criticised.
"I will not allow a single brick to be laid for the construction of bullet train in Maharashtra and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was so keen, he can go ahead and build it within Gujarat," Thackeray said, questioning the very need for the bullet train.
The MNS chief even went on to warn the state government, saying that if it used force, then they would face retaliation from the MNS.
Meanwhile, blaming the Railways for the stampede incident on Friday he said that MNS MLA Bala Nandgaokar had raised the issue with Railways and the Railway administration had replied that responsibility of building this bridge was vested with MMRDA.
Thackeray even blamed unauthorized hawkers for the problems commuters face and warned that MNS would first talk to them and if they do not listen, a lesson would be taught in the party's style.
Citing the report of the committee lead by nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar, Thackeray said that out of 15,000 deaths due to train accidents, 6000 were from Mumbai. "Kakodkar had suggested providing Rs one lakh crore for improving rail safety and he had suggested that the money be spent within five years between 2012 to 2017. But neither the UPA government did anything, nor does the present government seem to be taking any step," he said.
