MUMBAI: A video of BJP MLA from Ghatkopar (East) Parag Shah slapping a rickshaw driver for allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road. BJP functionaries said that the rickshaw driver was driving on the wrong side of the road and when Shah asked him what the urgency was, the driver replied he was in a hurry. After this, Shah slapped him. The incident reportedly took place late on Friday. Mumbai Congress chief MP Varsha Gaikwad posted the video on X and said BJP MLAs have become so arrogant that they don’t spare poor rickshaw drivers. “In Ghatkopar, BJP MLA Parag Shah beat up a rickshaw driver because he violated traffic rules. It’s only because the Home Minister is their ‘father’ that BJP MLAs take the law into their own hands, and now they’re even brawling on the streets! This is the real BJP.. The BJP rolls out the red carpet for big industrialists and contractors, and takes pride in beating up the poor, working-class people!” Gaikwad said in her post. Shah on his part has said that local residents had repeatedly taken up the issue of rickshaws and motorcyclists driving on the wrong side of the road and on footpaths. “There is no place to walk in Ghatkopar East. Several residents have complained repeatedly about the menace of rickshaw drivers and tow wheels breaking traffic rules. The traffic and local police don’t pay attention. We were holding a protest against traffic violations. Right in the middle of the protests, a rickshaw entered M G Road in the wrong direction. When I asked him what his problem was, he said he was in a hurry. In fact the lady passenger inside told us she had asked the rickshaw driver not to break naya rules,” Shah said. The Tilak Nagar police said they were verifying the video and investigating what exactly happened.
