Mumbai stampede: Raj Thackeray attacks govt says,'We believed PM, now feel betrayed'

Mumbai, Oct 5: MNS chief Raj Thackeray led a march to the Western Railway headquarters here to protest the recent stampede on a foot overbridge that left 23 people dead, and said he felt "betrayed" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Thackeray addressed a gathering of protesters outside the Churchgate station in south Mumbai where he lashed out at Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

"It seems as if only two or three people are running the country. BJP president Amit Shah himself called their own promises 'chunavi jumla' (election rhetoric). Even (Union minister) Nitin Gadkari said the promise of 'achhe din' is like a bone stuck in the throat. It clearly means the government has failed on many fronts," the MNS chief said.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader, who had a good rapport with Modi and backed his prime ministerial bid in 2014, said he was angry because the country has seen very little progress in the last three years. "I do not see any major changes in the last three years despite the government having a good mandate. We believed in him (Modi) and now we feel we have been betrayed," he said.

Thackeray also met officials of the Western Railway and handed over a memorandum of demands, which included improvement in infrastructure and eviction of hawkers from suburban railway stations.

PTI