Mumbai:
Seen on the streets of Mumbai this last week - auto drivers being attacked, their three-wheelers being set on fire. Two parties want to be held accountable: Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena, headed by his estranged cousin, Uddhav.
"They'd better mend their ways, we have better things to do than beat them," said Raj Thackeray this morning. "Auto drivers who behave arbitrarily have been taught a lesson," bragged Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena MP on Wednesday
Auto drivers in the city have held a series of strikes to demand higher fares and the right to operate within the city -currently, they can operate only in the suburbs. They also say electronic meters should not be made necessary because there aren't enough places in Mumbai where they can be repaired.
Both strains of the Thackeray family say the demands of the auto drivers' union are unacceptable because commuters cannot be held to ransom. The fact that the city is scheduled for municipal elections in February may have something to do with their goon-ish retaliation. Raj Thackeray has also found a way to work in his usual agenda against migrants - it's the drivers from North India, his party says, who're the root of the problem.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC which governs the city has an annual budget of around Rs 21,000 crore. It's currently controlled by the Shiv Sena, but Raj Thackeray's party has been steadily increasing its foothold in parts of the city like Byculla, Dadar, Ghatkopar, Mulund and Vikhroli.
12 members of the MNS have been arrested for targeting auto drivers. But not all voters are turned off. "We will vote for a party that ends this auto menace. We have to stand in line and sometimes they just refuse to ferry us," said a young woman trying to make it to work.