Raj Thackeray meets Devendra Fadnavis over hawkers issue

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray today met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the issue of illegal hawkers in Mumbai.

The meeting comes a day after hawkers staged a protest at Azad Maidan demanding framing of a hawkers' policy.

Raj Thackeray

Yesterday, MNS and Congress workers had clashed in Dadar over the issue of hawkers. MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said his party has asked the BJP-led government in Maharashtra to implement the court orders on hawkers.

"If the government implements the court orders, we (MNS) won't have to resort to anti-hawker agitation," Nandgaonkar said.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had organised a morcha in Dadar in support of hawkers, who have been targeted by the Raj Thackeray-led party. MNS workers had arrived at the 'Sanman Morcha' site in Dadar West before it began, leading to a confrontation between the activists of the two parties. The MNS workers hurled potatoes at the Congress workers and police took some Congress and MNS workers into custody.

The MNS had blamed Nirupam for the assault on its Malad division chief Shashank Malavade by hawkers on Saturday. The party alleged that Nirupam had asked the hawkers to retaliate.

MNS activists had also gathered near Nirupam's residence in Andheri yesterday. Cracking the whip on illegal hawkers in the city, the Bombay High Court yesterday restricted hawking to designated zones only while banning the activity on foot and rail overbridges and within 150 metres of railway stations.