Elections 2019: Does being an MP give you the right to break rules?

Shrikant Shinde during his bike rally last week

Politicians are a privileged lot - at least this is what the Thane police's reaction to the fact that most of who took part in the bike rallies of BJP's Kapil Patil and Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde were not wearing helmets - signals at. Raising the issue, residents from across Kalyan and Bhiwandi asked whether the Election Commission asked the authorities concerned not to take action for violating traffic rules, or whether the Thane cops chose to be completely ignorant about it.

Patil and Shinde - the current MPs from Kalyan and Bhiwandi - took out bike rallies this week to woo their voters. But in a blatant violation of traffic rules, almost 80 per cent of the participants were seen without helmets. Though the traffic cops were seen on bandobast duty and managing traffic along the route, none bothered to notice the fact that rules were being broken.

Kapil Patil's supporters at his bike rally on April 21

However, when asked about this, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) traffic, Amit Kale said, "Before giving them permission for the rallies, we asked them to follow all the necessary rules and regulations. But if we find anyone not following them, action will be taken. Nothing has come to our notice yet."

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Speaking to mid-day, Kalwa resident Chetan Yeraplle said, "Forget about following other traffic rules, none of these politicians were even seen wearing helmets in the bike rallies. We cannot blame the police completely because they were trying to manage the crowd, and it's difficult to take action against more than 300 bikers at a time. But at least they should fine the leaders for whom these people are taking part in the rallies. Shinde should be a role model for the city, but this is the image he is portraying."

Another resident from Kalyan, Raj Patra said, "These politicians behave as if they are the kings, and by not taking action against them, the cops are giving them the chance to do whatever they want. I have been a witness to Kapil Patil's rally and it was haphazardly handled. These people claim to be the future of our country, but they have no discipline."

Meawnhile, speaking on condition of anonymity, the PR person of one of the politicians said, "We didn't ask the campaigners to not wear helmets neither did we make it compulsory. We left it to them whether to wear it or not."

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