Congress plans rail blockade in Maharashtra against fare hike

Mumbai, June 23 (IANS) The Maharashtra unit of the Congress will organise a rail blockade across the state Wednesday to protest the recent hike in railway passenger fares and freight rates, its chief said Monday.

"We demand a roll-back of the fares immediately, failing which we will launch a rail-roko (block trains) agitation across Maharashtra," state Congress president Manikrao Thakre said here after a meeting with party office-bearers.

The meeting also resolved that if the central government failed to heed the anti-hike sentiments of the masses, the Congress would intensify its agitation.

The Wednesday agitation will see rail blockades at major railway stations in Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad and other parts of the state.

Earlier, during the day, Thakre and scores of Congress activists who included ministers, parliamentarians, legislators and other elected representatives travelled ticketless from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Thane to protest the hike.

They also staged noisy demonstrations at the CST, Thane and other major railway stations to press the demand for the rollback of the rail fare hikes, which they said would deal a severe blow to domestic budgets.

On Tuesday, a similar agitation has been planned by former MP from Mumbai North Sanjay Nirupam in Malad suburb.