Denied permission, Raj Thackeray to go ahead with protest march

The stage seems to be set for political one-upmanship over the Azad Maidan violence with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray determined to go ahead with the protest march even without police permission. HT reports.

The stage seems to be set for political one-upmanship over the Azad Maidan violence with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray determined to go ahead with the protest march even without police permission.

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Raj has announced a march from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan on Tuesday to demand the resignation of home minister RR Patil and police commissioner Arup Patnaik over the August 11 violence."I will march irrespective of the permission. The state will have to bear the consequences if my rally is disrupted," Raj said on Monday.

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Dismissing the police claim that the rally would result in traffic disruption, Raj questioned why the authorities gave Raza Academy permission to conduct a rally.

Claiming that he had made this clear to Thackeray, Chavan said, “The protest is an attempt by him to get Hindutva space and score over the Sena.”

Sources close to Chavan said he was not happy with Raj’s atte-mpt to get sympathy of the policemen by capitalising on the issue.