Maharashtra bandh: Shiv Sena, NCP workers ‘forced’ the city shut, say shopkeepers

Shiv Sena leaders Sachin Ahire along with Mayor Kishori Pednekar and BEST Chairman Ashish Chemburkar duromg a Raasta Roko at Worli naka on Monday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Commuters found themselves stuck without conveyance in most areas of the city with BEST deciding to stay off the roads for most part of the day. Eleven BEST buses were vandalised earlier in the day. Cabs and autos, too, plied cautiously, with only trains operating without a hitch. Shopkeepers were angry at being forced to stay closed in a festive week. Most schools switched to online mode for the day as some teachers found it hard to get to school. In Thane, auto and cab drivers said Shiv Sena workers were quite aggressive, with protesters beating up those who were working.

The shopkeepers across the city accused the ruling political parties of forcefully shutting their shops to enforce the bandh called on Monday. Most of them had refused to suffer further loss by closing down business, but workers of Shiv Sena and other ruling parties of the state forced them to shutter down.

While many opened their stores in the evening, some decided to close for the entire day.

Trains plied without any problem on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The APMC market was shut at 2 am on Monday by the NCP workers. Due to the fear of protest since late Sunday night, Mangaldas, Mulhi Jetha and Swadeshi markets had also kept their shops closed. They had circulated messages in their groups to shut shops in the wake of the bandh.

The Zaveri Bazar and gold markets were also shut in the fear of protest. Shiv Sena allegedly forced the shops on Lamington Road to shut till afternoon. Offices and showrooms were also forced shut. Markets in Dadar, Parel, Lower Parel, Lalbaug and Byculla decided to not open their shops at all. In a viral message, businessmen were informed that all shopkeepers have to follow the bandh.

Shops on Nagdevi and Abdul Rehman streets had opened in the morning, but the ruling political parties forced them to shutter down, and they remained closed for the entire day. Stores on Mohammad Ali Road were also shut.

At Mulund and Ghatkopar, Shiv Sena and NCP workers forcefully shut shops. They enforced the bandh at Vile Parle and Santacruz as well.

Akhil Bhartiya Khadya Tel Vyapari Mahasangh's President Shankar Shetty Thakkar said, "Navratri is going on and Dussehra is also around the corner, and it's not affordable for us to keep shops closed now. But we were forced to shut our shops. This is against democracy."

Mayor Kishori Pednekar and Shiv Sena's Sachin Ahir protested at Worli Naka, while local party members stopped traffic near Shiv Sena Bhavan.

"We told Shiv Sena members that this [festival period] is the time when business picks up. If we shut shops, we will suffer huge losses, but they said we have to close," Lower Parel Vyapari Association's president Nilesh Sawla said.

Rail services remained unaffected, as no political party tried to stop operations.