700 people protested at Azad Maidan daily in 2018

The city's iconic protest ground, Azad Maidan on an average witnessed 700 people agitating on it every day in 2018. This information was revealed under an RTI filed by Anil Galgali. Azad Maidan is the place allotted for agitations and protests by the government.

Galgali had sought details of the number of agitators and people who had gathered for the same. As per the information provided, a total of 2.5 lakh people protested at the Azad Maidan in 2018 from 638 protests organised by various political parties, social organisations, religious community groups like Muslims, Christians, merchant associations and tribals among others.

The month of March saw over 94,000 agitators on the maidan. It was also the month in which the farmers assembled after walking from Nashik to Mumbai. The month of March even saw the BJP held an agitation. It had around 18,000 people come for it.

There were around 301 agitations in which 40,101 people participated. This was followed by employees union that organised 68 agitations which saw 35,000 participate through the year. Main opposition parties (Congress and NCP) in the state held 13 agitations in which just over 5,000 people turned up. Congress party held 12 agitations while NCP held only one. BSP held seven agitations while RPI held 15 agitations. "Whenever we go to Azad Maidan, we see a lot of people protesting. I was curious to know how many people agitated. As per the information provided, it shows that opposition is not active. They held few agitations and fewer people turned up in them," said Galgali.

GROUND REALITY

• 2,57,194 Total number of protesters 
• 705 protesters on the ground per day 
• 638 Number of protests in 2018
• 1.7 Average daily protests