Kalu Singh Thakur, BJP MLA

More often than not, the surest way of riling our political overlords is treating them as commoners. It is best illustrated by the frequent cases of toll booth vandalism that have been reported in recent years. This week, the workers of an Indore-based toll booth were at the receiving end of BJP MLA Kalu Singh Thakur’s wrath after they asked him to pay the toll. The rules state that MLAs are exempt from paying these road charges. But instead of correcting the collectors, the MLA and his entourage went on a rampage, assaulting the workers and vandalising the toll booth.

Since the entire incident was captured by a CCTV camera, the possibility of employing the oldest trick in the book, denying that the incident ever happened, is ruled out. Thakur has gone with the next best alternative: pointing fingers and playing the victim. He alleges that he, too, was assaulted by the workers and has lodged a police complaint against them. Five of the toll workers have been arrested as a result. When questioned about this, the MLA shows no signs of any regret. “They own the cameras,” he has said, accusatorily, “To make their case, they won’t show what happened to us, only what happened to them.”

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