Maharashtra bandh brings Navi Mumbai to a halt, Sena skips Cong-NCP rally

The Maharashtra bandh called by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Monday had an impact on Navi Mumbai with the wholesale Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets shutting down along with shops and establishments in the nodes. MVA leaders claimed a total bandh in Navi Mumbai. The MVA alliance, constituting Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, called for the bandh to protest the killing of four farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) city leaders organized a protest rally. The Shiv Sena, however, stayed away from it.

Navi Mumbai Shiv Sena leader Vithal More, said, “We jointly planned the bandh but were not aware of the rally. We do not believe it was necessary as the traders and the business community have cooperated and shut shops in support of the bandh call.”

Denying cracks in the MVA, Congress city chief Anil Kaushik said, “Shiv Sena is with the MVA and we are all together to ensure the bandh is a success. Not much should be read in the absence of Shiv Sena in the rally.”

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport buses were off the roads as well, though autorickshaws were plying as usual. The impact was visible in Panvel and Uran region as well with Congress leader Mahendra Gharat and NCP leader Prashant Patil leading the bandh call.

Even as differences appeared in the MVA, the leaders decided to hold a joint meeting at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi later in the evening to thank the business community for the support.

Meanwhile, APMC traders alleged that they had been forced to shut shop as local MVA leaders made rounds of the market and threatened them. A trader who identified himself as Babubhai, said, “These are all politically motivated bandh calls. We cannot really oppose as we have to do business. Business is down and such bandh calls hurt our business even more.”

The opposition condemned the bandh call. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Navi Mumbai chief Ramchandra Gharat, said, “This bandh call is only to divert the raid on Sharad Pawar’s family by the government agencies. We condemn this bandh which is causing problems for the common man.”