Raj Thackeray's rally against Railways LIVE: MNS chief asks govt to clear mess, threatens next rally 'won't be peaceful'

Govt focussing on trivial issues like demonetisation, GST: Thackeray

“The central government is wasting its time with ’trivial issues’ like demonetisation, GST, Swacch Bharat, yoga, etc. In doing so, it’s ignoring real issues. But if it continues doing this, I won’t remain peaceful,” MNS chief Raj Thackeray said, winding up his speech.

Raj Thackeray concludes speech by attacking central govt

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has wound up his speech against the Railways by targeting the central government on a variety of topics.

MNS gives Railways 15-day deadline to clear all foot-over bridges of hawkers

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has given the Railways 15 days to evict all hawkers from foot-over bridges across Mumbai’s suburban rail network. “If the Central and Western Railways don’t clear all foot-over bridges of hawkers, we will do it ourselves,” Raj Thackeray said.

Bullet Train doesn’t serve Mumbai’s needs, says Raj Thackeray

“I was the first person to oppose the Bullet Train. It doesn’t serve the needs of thousands of Mumbai’s commuters, and is just a gift for a handful of Gujaratis,” MNS chief Raj Thackeray has said

Safety levels in Mumbai unacceptable: Raj Thackeray

“When people in Mumbai leave their homes in the morning, it’s not even certain whether they will return home or not. This is unacceptable,” MNS chief Raj Thackeray said while addressing a rally.

Watch: Raj Thackeray addresses a rally outside Western Railway headquarters at Churchgate

‘Mumbai commuters’ problems unresolved for decades’

“Problems of railway commuters in Mumbai have persisted for decades, and there are still no answers,” says Raj Thackeray, MNS chief, lambasting the government for their apathy.

Raj Thackeray joins protest

Mumbai: MNS Chief Raj Thackeray joins MNS workers protesting in Metro Cinema area over #ElphinstoneStampede; Police had denied permission. pic.twitter.com/d7wmgNE4iL

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2017

PIL seeking NIA probe in Elphinstone Road stampede adjourned for three weeks by Bombay High Court: ANI

At MNS rally, hoarding shows cartoon where Raj Thackeray is cracking a whip on kneeling Narendra Modi, Devendra Fadnavis and Amit Shah

What is the Centre doing for us? asks MNS

“You are talking about bullet trains but first, make sure you give basic facilities to rail commuters,” Avinash Abhyankar, MNS spokesperson, said.

“While people are dying, you spending over Rs 1 lakh for bullet trains…Maharashtra is providing 33 percent of the national revenue to the Centre. But what is the Centre doing for us?” he added.

Watch our LIVE coverage of the rally here:

Western Railway may delay renaming of Elphinstone Road station

According to Free Press Journal , in the wake of the stampede which killed 23 people, Western Railway authorities are likely to delay the renaming of Elphinstone Road station to Prabhadevi.

The renaming of the station was supposed to take place last week.

“This is a very disturbing time but now there is a fear about how the public might react to this name change given the tragic situation that we saw on Friday, so it has been kept on the back-burner for now,” the report quoted a Western Railway official as saying.

More visuals from the rally at Metro cinema:

Actor Shivaji Satam says he supports Raj Thackeray’s rally

The actor said the rally was not being held for any political reasons.

Image courtesy: Sanjay Sawant

Visuals of protest at Metro cinema in Mumbai

Image courtesy: Sanjay Sawant

MNS slams govt for denying permission to protest

According to Loksatta, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande questioned the democracy in which one could not get permission to conduct rally. “Even the British would grant permission to hold protest, but this government won’t,” he was quoted as saying in a tweet by Loksatta.

मोर्चाला परवानगी नाकारणे हा लोकशाहीचा गळा घोटण्याचा प्रकार- @sandeep_mns संदीप देशपांडेhttps://t.co/W0SrxyrtDm@mnsadhikrut #RajThackeray

— LoksattaLive (@LoksattaLive) October 5, 2017

Raj Thackeray to protest ‘politely’

According to Free Press Journal , Thackeray is expected to protest politely with folded hands, unlike what MNS is known for. Tight police security has been arranged at Churchgate station, where the morcha will take place. Since the MNS chief had appealed to his followers to join him in the rally, in a Facebook post, his supporters are likely to show up in huge numbers.

Thackeray’s Facebook post on the rally

Raj Thackeray to lead the rally

MNS has planned a rally on Thursday morning from Metro theatre to Churchgate to protest against the poor quality of railway infrastructure in Mumbai, days after a stampede at the Elphinstone Road station killed 23 people and injured 38 others. Over 50,000 supporters are expected to attend. It will be interesting to see what effect Thackeray’s rally on Thursday has on Mumbai, especially because MNS’ political influence has been dwindling in the city.

Mumbai Police denies permission to MNS for rally

Mumbai police has denied permission to MNS for morcha to Western Railway HQ. MNS leader Nitin Sardesai says party will go ahead with rally

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2017