BJP, Shiv Sena & RPI demand for roll back of rail fare hike

Parties fer backlash in the run-up to the state assembly poll

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the Republican Party of India (RPI) made a strong plea to the Modi government on Sunday to roll back the 14.2 per cent increase in passenger rail fare and 6.7 per cent in cargo.

They argued that the Modi government’s move might puncture their plan to dislodge the 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government in Maharashtra in the forthcoming Assembly polls, slated for September-October.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said the fare hike would completely collapse the common man's budget. He claimed that the hike was quite shocking and announced that  he would soon speak to Prime Minister Modi for its withdrawal.

Uddhav said the Centre should first provide basic amenities to commuters in trains and at railway stations and then go for such a hefty fare hike.  The party’s MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will convey the Shiv Sena’s opposition to the Centre.

The RPI, another ally, also voiced opposition against the fare hike. RPI president and Rajya Sabha member Ramdas Athavale said his party would register its protest in the coming Parliament session.

State BJP leaders were also forced to raise concerns over the Centre's move. Top party leaders on Saturday night met Union Minister for Home Rajnath Singh and made a strong plea for the reversal of the fare hike. Singh has assured them to take up the matter with the prime minister and railways minister.

The ruling Congress and NCP in Maharashtra have already held protests on Saturday and Sunday, with the Congress announcing that party ministers, leaders and workers will travel without ticket in the suburban trains on Monday. More than 7.5 million commuters daily travel in Mumbai's suburban trains.

The Centre's  rail fare hike decision comes at a time when the BJP-Sena alliance in particular was gearing up to ride on the Modi wave, especially in Greater Mumbai, where the two parties won all six seats in the Lok Sabha poll. Further, the saffron combine was currently putting in a place a comprehensive strategy to win maximum seats out of the total 36 assembly seats in Greater Mumbai.