Rahul braves Sena threat, ends Mumbai visit

Congress General Secretary made light of Shiv Sena threats over his “Mumbai for all Indians “ remarks and ended his short visit to Mumbai without any untoward incidents on Friday. Tight security thwarted any attempt by the Sena activists to disrupt his programme.

In fact, to show that he was not worried by Sena rhetoric, Rahul Gandhi took a local train from suburban Andheri to Dadar in central Mumbai after dropping his plans to visit a slum in Ghatkopar by a helicopter.

An SPG protectee, the Congress leader, accompanied by the newly-appointed Indian Youth Congress president Rajeev Satav and party MP Jitendra Singh, disembarked at Dadar, a Shiv Sena stronghold, from where he took another train on way to Ghatkopar, an eastern suburb.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has issued a diktat to his supporters to greet Gandhi with black flags during his Mumbai visit. Scores of Sena supporters were rounded up while staging protests in the city. According to Mumbai Youth Congress president Sunil Ahire, Gandhi was slated to board a chopper at Vile Parle and land in Vikhroli to avoid any incident, but changed his mind midway. Rahul was accompanied by his security personnel.

The Mumbai Police efforts were supplemented by commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG), Rapid Action Force and other forces

- Asian Tribune -