Shiv Sena leaders snub railway event

The rift between Shiv Sena and BJP widened, with Sena leaders Arvind Sawant and Rajan Vichare turning up at a railway event, but refusing to be part of the ceremony. Rather, the duo said they were there to protest the fact that Central and Western Railway were not giving them enough notice for such important events, calling them at the last minute. BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar, who was present at the occasion, said the Sena leaders were “anti-progress”.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday inaugurated a clutch of passenger amenities via remote from New Delhi and was not there to see the turn of events at Bandra station. Around 2.30 pm, Mr Sawant and Mr Vichare walked into the event with the former sporting a black scarf as mark of protest. Asked to come forward on the dais, both refused. Midway through the event, the duo walked out.

Mr Sawant, who represents the south Mumbai constituency, said that he had been after CR officials to convert Harbour line from Direct Current to Alternating Current and increase the coaches from nine to 12 but could not be there for the event as he was informed only the night before.

“Firstly, on May 29 the DC to AC conversion and 12-coach trains on harbour were celebrated and they informed us about the change in venue at the very last minute, despite the fact that I had taken a lot of pains to make known to CR officials the seriousness of the demand. The next day, there was the Parel Terminus foundation ceremony; that too they informed us late night on May 29. Similarly, we were informed about Wednesday’s event late night on Tuesday,” he said.

Even Mr Vichare, who represents the Thane constituency, expressed that he was unhappy about being informed about such important railway events in the city at the eleventh hour. “They basically tell us that we have to be there in less than 12 hours and if we can’t, we miss important railway projects in the city. Such lack of coordination from whosoever it may be, we do not accept and have today come in protest to say that they cannot behave in this way,” he said.

Mr Shelar, walked into the event late, around the same time that Mr Sawant and Mr Vichare exited the main area. On the Sena leaders’ refusal to come up on the dais for the main inauguration, Mr Shelar made a scathing attack on the party his government is in coalition with and called their behaviour “anti-progress”. “This kind of thing could have been avoided at an event where we are providing an important amenity to the public. But if they have still chosen to go ahead with it, it makes you think that the Sena is anti-progress,” he said.

Mr Shelar went on to say that it almost felt as if the Sena could not handle the fact that good work was being done under the BJP. “Mr Prabhu has been The railway minister Suresh Prabhu has been inaugurating some or the other facilities for commuters in Mumbai almost every week and this kind of reaction from Sena leaders makes you feel that they are not happy about it. They are not able to handle the fact that so much work is being completed,” he said.

When told about Mr Shelar’s reaction, Mr Sawant said the BJP was assuming that Sena would dance to their tunes. “If they say, dance – will we dance ” he said. The inauguration was hijacked by the leaders’ shenanigans and officials were seen trying to pacify them.