Mumbai: Terming the toll tax as the state’s biggest “scam”, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray on Monday demanded for an end to the road-toll tax regime failing which his party activists will “burn toll booths”.
Upping the ante against the government, the MNS leader said that very soon, his party workers will go to all toll booths and prevent collection of the toll tax from smaller vehicles.
“I shall discuss the issue with the CM Eknath Shinde in a couple of days and see what is the response… Thereafter, my men will go to all the toll collection posts, and ensure that toll is not collected from all the small vehicles. If the government takes action against us, then we shall burn those toll booths,” threatened Raj Thackeray.
Speaking to mediapersons, he reiterated that the road toll tax is the state’s “biggest scam”, and questioned why the same companies keep getting the toll collection contracts every year.
“We are already paying road tax, then why should we pay toll tax also? Where exactly is the massive toll revenue collected from these toll-booths going? Despite this, the condition of the roads and highway remains miserable without any facilities,” said Raj Thackeray.
In an initial reaction, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that all small vehicles, including four-wheelers, are exempt from paying toll tax as per government directive.
Raj Thackeray slammed successive governments in the past three decades which had promised to scrap toll tax, but nothing had been done in the matter so far.
Returning to his trademark style of ‘Laav re te video’ (Play that Video) for impact, Raj Thackeray also played the old videos of leaders like the late Gopinath Munde, former CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray, and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
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