Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis travels by Mumbai's lifeline; interacts with commuters

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday traveled by a suburban train and interacted with commuters.

He boarded the 6.29 pm Kalyan fast local from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) after attending a function at Colaba in South Mumbai.

Officials traveling with Fadnavis said he decided to take the common Mumbaikar's mode of transport to reach Kalyan to attend an event.

Commuters in the first class compartment were taken by surprise to see the Chief Minister in their midst during the peak hours. They discussed overcrowding in trains and safety issues.

Some enthusiastic commuters even dialed their relatives and asked Fadnavis to speak to them on phone, to which the Chief Minister responded positively.

"The interaction was about railway safety and crowd. Fadnavis responded positively saying that he would take up the issues with concerned authorities," an official traveling with the Chief Minister said.

When contacted, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the decision has nothing to do with political affiliations of the individuals concerned.

"The committee under chairmanship of Chief Secretary and other members takes decision (on security assessment) and (no) minister has any role to play. They (members of the committee) take decision on the basis of threat perception," he said.

Fadnavis said the government could ask the committee to take a fresh review of its decision to scale down security cover if any individual feels aggrieved.

"Our government will never compromise someone's security based on political affiliations," the chief minister said.