Atmanirbhar Chaha stalls lose flavour under BMC action

Atmanirbhar Chaha stalls, promoted by Mumbai BJP's unit, face closure due to BMC's hawker-free drive after the party-led regime took charge of the civic body earlier this year.

More than 50 of over 100 stalls have shut down; remaining shop owners fear imminent closure.

The stalls were conceived by former BJP OBC Morcha chief Narendra Gaonkar, named after PM Narendra Modi's Atmanirbhar Bharat slogan, with over 100 party workers allotted stalls in prime locations like south and central Mumbai.

The stalls lack legal bearing, similar to Bal Thackeray's vada pav stall initiative, and plans to expand to 400 stalls have been dashed by BMC action.

Affected worker Ajay Bhagat, 35, saw his stall at Prabhadevi Circle closed on Saturday; he took a ₹85,000 loan under PM Mudra Yojana and pays monthly EMI of ₹1,834, while BMC imposes fines of around ₹1,200 every week.