MNS toll agitation Live: Raj's meeting with CM ends, new toll policy soon

12.31 pm: CM’s statement on toll: We are trying to bring in new policy before model of conduct * Replying to the MNS’s demand of closing toll booths where construction cost is below Rs 2 crore, CM said the government is trying to eliminate toll on smaller roads. We are contemplating to buy back smaller roads constructed on toll basis. We will make budgetary provisions for that. * We will close the toll booths wherein toll collection is complete or contract period is over. We will carry out audit of those toll booths wherein financial irregularities have been alleged. * State Transports buses will be exempted from toll so that common man does not bear the brunt of cost. * Toilets on highways is a serious issue and will be considered. Whereever there is land acquisition problem, we will even buy land and will build toilets as per centre’s norms. * We have started electronic surveillance for counting vehicles on some toll booths and will start this soon at all toll booths. * Ambulances will be soon stationed on Highways with the help from centre. 12.11 pm: Vandalism won’t be tolerated, says CM Towards the end of the meeting, Raj Thackeray reportedly insisted that until a detailed policy is ready and until a timebound programme to close down booths is prepared, his agitation would continue. The MNS’s proposed morcha to Mantralaya next week would not be called off, he said. Chavan reportedly said the new toll policy would be announced before the model code of conduct prior to the Lok Sabha elections comes into play. While he could not stop the morcha, he said the vandalism of toll booths was unacceptable and that should be stopped. 12.07 pm: Some toll booths may be closed The chief minister has assured that 22 toll plazas earning less than Rs 10 crore annually may be shut. A detailed study of the earnings of every toll plaza, of how many toll operators are in litigation with the state government, how many cases were such that the government would have to pay operators, etc will be conducted soon, following which more booths may be shut. Minister for MSRDC Jaidutt Kshirsagar said 36 toll plazas have been closed till date. 11.50 am: No system to count vehicles at most toll booths: NHAI National Highways Authority of India officials present at the meeting reportedly admitted that only a fraction of toll booths are equipped with facilities such as water supply and sanitation. Only 16 of 40 booths on national highways in Maharashtra have these facilities, they said. On the counting system for vehicles too, NHAI officials said these booths had no system for maintaining a count of traffic. There is also no system to count vehicles claiming exemption or concession on toll charges – government officials, elected politicians, etc are exempt. 11.30 am: New toll policy soon The main outcome of the two-hour discussion between MNS leaders and state government ministers is that the government has assured a detailed policy on toll collection before the election code of conduct comes into force. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan reportedly admitted to some faults in the granting of contracts to some toll booth operators. These would be ironed out in the new policy, he said. On 22 toll plazas where the MNS has demanded that toll collection be stopped immediately, the PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal has said his department will require an additional allocation of Rs 285 crore every year to maintain these roads without toll collection. On infrastructure at toll plazas, the government has assured that 200 new ambulances will be made available to operate near these toll plazas. Bhujbal reportedly said at least 98 toll plazas have water and sanitation facilities. 11.25 am: Meeting ends, MNS morcha not called off Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has assured Thackeray that his demands would be studied carefully. However, not all his demands could be met and the meeting has ended with the MNS still stubborn about staging its proposed morcha later this month. On 21 February, the agitating MNS workers will march from Girgaum Chowpatty to Mantralaya seeking that toll be abolished from state highways, said leaders. 10.30 am: Why charge toll while exiting city, asks Raj The MNS has raised a series of issues: Key among them is that charging toll to motorists driving out of a city is meaningless. The MNS has also raised the issue of the absence of any facilities at toll plazas, except thos eon the Mumbai Pune Expressway. All other plazas suffer from no water, lack of toilet facilities, etc. 10.20 am: CM tells Raj toll policy already drafted, being vetted As there are senior journalists present at the meeting, information has begun to trickle out on what is being discussed inside Sahyadri. * The MNS has contended that the government has made no comparison of original traffic and traffic after completion of contract, thereby ignoring the possibility of windfall gains for toll operators. * MNS gave a list of 22 toll booths where toll tax need not be collected any more. * On behalf of the government, Ranjit Kamble made a presentation on toll. * Sanjay Shirdokar, an expert on road contracts and toll collection, also made a presentation. Shirodkar was part of Thackeray’s delegation. * CM Prithviraj Chavan has said the toll tax policy of the state government was drafted and ready 15 days ago. It is under the consideration of the infrastructure sub-committee of the Cabinet, he said. 10 am: Raj Thackeray at Sahyadri, in talks with CM Having arrived at the state guest house in Sahyadri at a little past 9, Raj Thackeray is currently holding discussions with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and a phalanx of senior state leaders. Interestingly, Thackeray was accompanied by senior regional language journalists. The chief minister’s team includes Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Ranjit Kamble, as well as Chief Secretary J S Saharia and key officials. There is a huge police presence outside the state guest house Sahyadri at Malabar Hill. 9.30 am: Key meeting today on toll agitation by MNS Having taken to the streets on Wednesday to protest what they deem illegal toll being collected by road contractors across the state, the future course of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s agitation will be decided after the key meeting between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today. The MNS has said they will continue to protest against the system until there is greater transparency. “We have been fighting for this issue for the last two years. We have raised the issue with the chief minister for four times and he raised his hands saying he cannot do anything about it. We went to courts as well, but all we got was different dates of appearance. We had to recourse to ask people to not pay toll. This is of the contractors, by the contractors and for the contractors,” MNS leader Shalini Thackeray said during a debate on CNN-IBN show India at 9. Over 2300 MNS activists including chief Raj Thackeray and party MLAs took to the streets in Mumbai on Wednesday. The Congress-NCP earlier described the MNS agitation against toll tax as a “stunt” with an eye on elections and congratulated the Maharashtra government for ensuring that rule of law prevailed. Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant told reporters that the MNS ‘raasta roko’ was a “fiasco”. The Mumbai Police, meanwhile, took preventive action against any untoward incident that might have taken place due to the MNS agitation. The MNS chief’s convoy heading towards Vashi toll plaza was stopped near Somaiya ground, on Eastern Express Highway, Chunabhatti at 10.40 am on Wednesday. “He was taken to RCF police station and was detained under sections 68 and 69 of Bombay Police Act. He was let off at around 12.40 pm,” Hemant Nagrale, acting Mumbai police commissioner told mediapersons on Wednesday evening. Apart from MNS chief, party MLAs Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai, Pravin Darekar, Mangesh Sangale, Shishir Shinde and Ram Kadam were also detained by police. In all, the police have taken preventive action, which includes issuing notices, detention and arrests, against 2,327 MNS activists since Tuesday evening   end of updates for Wednesday, 12 February 6.00 pm: Mumbai Police averts violence The preventive measures that the Mumbai Police took to prevent any untoward incident that might have taken place due to MNS strike seem to have paid off with the city not brought to ransom any point. The police said that MNS chief’s convoy heading towards Vashi toll plaza was stopped near Somaiya ground, on Eastern Express Highway, Chunabhatti in Sion at 10.40 am. “He was taken to RCF police station and was detained under sections 68 and 69 of Bombay Police Act. He was let off at around 12.40 pm,” Hemant Nagrale, acting Mumbai police commissioner told mediapersons on Wednesday evening. He added that no major incidents of stone pelting and vandalism were reported in the city and law and order situation was normal across the city. “We had taken appropriate measures to ensure that law and order situations remains normal in city,” Nagrale added. Apart from MNS chief, party MLAs Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai, Pravin Darekar, Mangesh Sangale, Shishir Shinde and Ram Kadam were also detained by police. In all, the police have taken preventive action, which includes issuing notices, detention and arrests, against 2,327 MNS activists since Tuesday evening. 16:00 hours: Milind Deora: Symbolic martyrdom growing in politics Mumbai South Member of Parliament and Union Minister of State Milind Deora has made a reference to the political drama over toll collection. He tweeted that both Delhi and Mumbai’s politicians are increasingly attracted to “symbolic martyrdom / provoking govt fall”.15:00 hours: Our protest was peaceful, says MNS legislator Key Raj Thackeray aide Bala Nandgaonkar claimed that their “peaceful, silent” agitation had been taken note of by the government. Speaking to journalists outside Krishna Kunj, Nandgaonkar said the MNS had decided to go ahead with the protest because the CM had on Monday failed to give them a time-bound programme on eradicating toll. “Yesterday we had asked the chief minister for a timebound programme, which he didnt give us. Today, he called Rajsaheb on his own and said the agitation was turning violent and that we should call it off. He said he could hold discussions at 9 am,” Nandgaonkar said. The further course of the agitation will be decided on after the meeting, he said. “If nothing comes out of tomorrow’s meeting then we will organise a mocha to Mantralaya on 21 February,” he said, adding, “In future if there are violent protests, then don’t blame us.” Asked whether this was a scripted protest in collusion with the ruling parties as charged by the Opposition, Nandgaonkar said the Opposition in Maharashtra is unable to function effectively and was therefore reduced to accusing those taking up issues of stage-managing them. 13:18 hours: Raj, supporters arrive in Shivaji Park He clearly didn’t have to face any traffic logjams on his way home from Chembur, arriving at Krishna Kunj in less than 25 minutes. A huge crowd of supporters is in tow. Shivaji Park is still closed for business, wary of any fresh outburst from the MNS workers. Interestingly, even shops on the ground floor of the Sena Bhavan building stayed shut. 12.45 pm: Raj Thackeray released Less than two hours after he was taken into preventive custody, Raj Thackeray was released by the RCF police. He said he will meet Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan tomorrow morning at 9 am. “We had no intention of causing inconvenience to the people of the state,” he said, speaking to reporters outside RCF police station. “The CM called me some time back while I had been detained and told me that we could meet  for a discussion tomorrow morning. Accordingly, I will meet him tomorrow at Sahyadri (the state guest house at Malabar Hill) at 9 am tomorrow.” He said he received reports about violence across the state and the forced shutting down of shops and establishments by MNS workers. 12.15 pm: Shivaji Park almost completely shut Shivaji Park , the cradle of the Maharasntra Navnirman Sena’s politics, is wearing an almost completely deserted look. Two police vans  are stationed outside the residence of Raj Thackeray, while 40 to 50 policemen are seated at one spot. About a kilometre away near Plaza cinema, another two police vans are on standby while vendors scurry away and shop-owners down their shutters, some in soladarity with the MNS and others fearing violence by MNS cadre. 12.10 pm: RR Patil: Don’t take law into your hands Home Minister RR Patil has not spoken to journalists about the law and order situation across the state following the protests by MNS workers, but the state NCP tweeted that Patil has said MNS party members must not take law into their hands.

  11.45 am: Political compulsions for Cong-NCP, but MNS better prepared It appears that the Congress-NCP Maharashtra government ordered stern police action against the MNS, but right now, with protests by hundreds of MNS men across the state growing stronger, it appears that Raj Thackeray was better prepared for the day’s events. Reports suggets that a few thousand workers of the party went into hiding through Tuesday evening and until Wednesday morning, fearing arrest. About 6,000 men were in hiding, reports NDTV. Akhil Chitre, secretary of the MNS’s youth wing, is quoted as having said, “If we are arrested tonight (Tuesday), then our whole plan goes for a toss. Hence, we have decided to hide and come out in the morning for the protest.” That might explain the surge in protests soon after the detention of the MNS chief. Thackeray had said on Tuesday that the legal cell of the party would work to protect thos edetained or arrested in protests. 11.35 am: Detention leads to more protests, vandalism across state Following the detention of Raj Thackeray by the RCF Police in Mumbai, protests by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers across the state have intensified. In Aurangabad, a mild lathi charge had to be undertaken by police to disperse crowds of protestors; in Pune and Navi Mumbai reports came in suggesting that MNS workers were forcibly shutting  shops. At Chandni Chowk outside Pune, MNS corporator Rajabhau Gorade and his band of supporters were detained, reported Marathi newspaper Loksatta. A crowd of supporters also gathered outside outside RCF police station at Chembur, Mumbai, shouting slogans and demanding that their leader be freed. 11.25 am: Raj’s wife says protest was peaceful until Mumbai Police intervened Regional paper Navbharat Times reports that Raj Thackeray’s wife Sharmila said the rasta roko agitation had been peaceful. “The Mumbai Police destroyed a peaceful agitation,” she is reported to have said. Meanwhile, in Aurangabad, police had to resort to a mild baton charge to force MNS workers off the highway. Police action in Pune and Vashi is also underway. 11.15 am:  Police officials say Raj in preventive custody At RCF police station, a deputy commissioner of police informed journalists that Raj THackeray was taken into preventive custody in order to maintain law and order. “When the situation normalises and order seems to have prevailed in the city, he will be free to go,” said the officer. At Vashi, meanwhile, traffic was completely blocked by MNS workers. Shouting slogans, several dozen party workers used bamboo poles, stones and traffic barricades to  block traffic at the toll collection plaza. Mumbai Police has sought back-up forces, though the Rapid Action Force and police personnel are out in full force. Reports said the party men are agitated at the detention of Raj Thackeray. There is a rapidly growing traffic pile-up in the direction of  Navi Mumbai. 11.05 am: BJP says we will make state toll-free Even as arrest formalities are likely to begin soon at the RCF police sttaion where the MNS chief has been taken, reports start to pour in on incidents of vandalism. Three buses were vandalised in Aurangabad, while a car was stoned in Mankhurd, Mumbai. Meanwhile, BJP state chief Devendra Fadnavis meanwhile said it was the Sena-BJP-RPI combine that first raised the issue of unfair toll charges in the state. “It is only the grand alliance who have promised a toll-free Maharashtra. Other parties are raising the issue now, let them do so,” he said.     10.45 am: Reactions start coming in It’s politics in election season, is the first verdict on Raj Thackeray’s agitation against toll charges on highways across Maharashtra. Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut says the average Maharashtrian does not even support the demand for toll-free highways. “People are not supporting this, the state is functioning normally,” Raut told ANI. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also told Marathi channel ABPMajha that Thackeray appears motivated by electoral concerns in a poll year. 10.40 am: Raj being taken to RCF police station Sources say the detained MNS chief is being taken to RCF police station in Chembur. An arrest is possible. The Mumbai Police issued a notice warning him yesterday against unlawful assembly and against creating  a law and order situation. The pressure is on the Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil of the NCP to act decisively against the hooliganism. 10.35 am: CM says toll policy is under consideration Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says he had requested Thackeray not to inconvenience commuters and motorists. “The toll policy is under consideration, we have conveyed that to him,” Chavan said. Meanwhile, MNS workers tried to continue protesting even after the detention of Raj Thackeray. Several hundred vehicles were held up at Chembur even as police tried to round up protesting party workers. 10.27 am: Raj Thackeray’s convoy stopped en route to Vashi MNS Chief Raj Thackeray who was en route to Vashi to flag off the anti-toll agitation by the party, was stopped en route at Chembur. Thackeray and several protesting party workers were herded into a police van. An arrest following the detention could not be ruled out, said officers. Meanwhile Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that action would be taken as per the law.   Speaking at the inauguration of the high-speed Sahar Elevated Road, Chavan told reporters that discussions had been held with MNS party members over the issue and that action would now follow as per the law. 10.00 am: 25 MNS workers detained near Vikhroli Near Vikhroli on the Eastern Express Highway, MNS legislator Shishir Shinde and a group of about 25 party workers were arrested. Further north at the Mulund toll collection point on Eastern Express Highway and on LBS Marg, traffic was choc a bloc. Police also detained MNS workers at Vashi. Some more arrests were made in Pune too. Scores of policemen including those from the State Reserve Police Force were posted outside the residence of Raj Thackeray in Dadar. The number of preventive arrests of leaders and workers made overnight across the state is in the range of 500, said sources. Meanwhile, daily commuters were severely hit by a rail fracture on Central Railway. Reports said rail traffic on the slow line of Central Railway’s main line was crawling following a rail fracture between Thane and Mulund stations. [caption id=“attachment_1385469” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Police at toll nakas: PTI[/caption] 9.00 am: Toll agitation begins, MNS promises it will be peaceful The MNS has begun its state wide agitation against toll booths and plazas across the state of Maharashtra. MNS chief Raj Thackeray said that the agitation would be peaceful and all highways would be blocked from 9 am. “I had talks with the government who asked to call off the protest asking me to come for talks and was also ready to issue a note about the same. But, I said we had discussions earlier as well but nothing has come out of it. I need a time bound program over the issue from the government. So, the statewide agitation will go on,” said Thackeray, while addressing the media at his residence ‘Krishna Kunj’ in Shivaji Park, Dadar (W). This is despite the fact that Mumbai police served him a notice, earlier in the day, under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code from the Shivaji Park police warning him against disturbing the law and order situation. He further said that all the highways would  be blocked on Wednesday from 9 am and he would also be present at the Vashi toll plaza in Navi Mumbai. “I am aware about the practical exams of 12th students are going on and I don’t want to inconvenience the schools and colleges. So, I have instructed the party workers not to indulge in any violence and the protest will be peaceful in all cities,” said Thackeray.