Samruddhi Expressway toll booth vandalism prompts war of words between BJP and MNS

The Samruddhi Expressway toll booth vandalism has ignited a verbal spat between Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Raj Thackeray’s son Amit Thackeray was reportedly stopped at Gonde toll plaza in Sinnar on Shirdi-Nashik sector of the expressway on Saturday night while on his way to Mumbai, over mismatch in his vehicle’s FASTag details. On Sunday, a mob, allegedly MNS workers, ransacked the plaza and made a functionary there apologise. A video of the incident went viral on social media.

Latching on to this vandalism, Maharashtra BJP targeted the MNS chief’s 31-year-old son. Amit Thackeray, breaking toll-booths is not politics. Occasionally, learn and teach to be constructive, the state BJP tweeted. This drew the MNS’ ire, with a party functionary slamming the BJP for breaking other parties (read Shiv Sena and NCP).

Is breaking other parties politics? Breaking toll (nakas) anytime better than breaking parties and troubling the common man, the tweet by MNS students wing leader Akhil Chitre said. MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande said, Those who break other peoples’ parties all their lives, what can they teach us about constructing? They should build their own party before destroying others’ parties.