Political activists bully their way into 'AC local started during BJP rule'

An activist inside the AC train yesterday

There was chaos inside the air-conditioned local yesterday when a number of political party activists barged inside the 10.33 am Churchgate-bound train with banners and flags on their way to attend the rally of BJP president Amit Shah.

When regular commuters questioned them, they got into an argument with them, saying the AC train had not been there during the Congress government and that it was started during BJP's rule, refusing to budge.

"The activists were very rude and kept dropping names of big party leaders and insulting commuters. Though there were ticket checkers in the train, the activists, many of whom were travelling ticketless, refused to pay fine," said a commuter.

Railway officials said they received a complaint and first attempted to detrain the activists at Borivli. "By the time the train reached Andheri, the message had been given to the control room and almost all the activists were detrained," a senior official said.

Commuters expressed their displeasure and said that if the railways was charging more for the AC local, it was the authorities' responsibility to maintain standard of service and initiate action in such situations.

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