MNS workers on Friday vandalised the office of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee
While eight MNS activists have been arrested by the Mumbai Police for vandalising the Mumbai Congress office, former MNS leaders said criminal cases lodged against them during protests launched by the party had led to legal hassles and affected their prospects.
MNS workers on Friday vandalised the office of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC). The MNS owed up to the act as a "surgical strike" against Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam. The two parties are at loggerheads over the issue of illegal hawkers in Mumbai. Two office bearers of the Raj Thackeray-led party were attacked by these vendors in what MNS leaders claimed was due to instigation by Nirupam.
Vikhroli corporator Parmeshwar Kadam, who was among six of the seven corporators in the BMC who shifted loyalties to the Shiv Sena, claimed during his days in the party, they were left to fend for themselves after being booked by the police in the wake of political agitations.
"From 2007, when I became a corporator, the police would name me in many cases like the protests over Railway recruitment… we did not get any aid from the party to cover legal expenses," he added.
Kadam, who had 18 cases against him of which two are pending, said MNS workers who participated in the agitations faced problems in getting jobs in the government or private sector as they were unable to produce the necessary 'character certificate' from the police. "They face trouble getting a passport and some even lose their jobs after cases are lodged," he claimed.
Kadam said this had affected the response of MNS workers to protests launched by the party. "MNS workers are hence wary of hitting the streets as they have to face the consequences alone… MNS leaders only make a show (of sympathy)," he added.
"When political workers protest, cases are lodged against them… but the party for which they work must take care of them," said former MNS MLA Mangesh Sangle. He charged that legal aid for MNS workers and leaders named in cases were intermittent and local functionaries had to ensure these activists were bailed out. Sangle lamented that after he decided to quit the MNS for the BJP, he was derided as a criminal despite these cases being filed during political protests launched by the party.
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