Shiv Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackrey on Monday led a noisy protest in Mumbai against a hike in suburban train fares.
A surcharge to raise funds for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project led to an increase of Rs 2 in suburban train fares from Monday.
The Sainiks travelled ticketless on a train from the Churchgate station in south Mumbai to Bandra as a mark of protest against the hike.
The protest misfired initially when the train Thackeray boarded with senior leaders Narayan Rane, Mohan Rawale, Subhash Desai and hundreds of Sainiks headed straight for the maintenance yard.
The embarrassed leaders huffed and puffed for nearly 20 minutes in the sweltering heat of the yard before the railway authorities sent for a motorman, who took the train back to the station, and thence to Andheri.
The agitation back on the track, Thackeray told reporters that the surcharge will burden the common man.
He said Shiv Sainiks will continue to travel ticketless till the hike was rolled back.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Suburban Railway Passengers Association has decided to move the Bombay high court against the hike.
Rawle said top Sena leaders will meet Railway Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday to demand a roll back.
