On his party's agitation against toll collections, Raj Thackeray said: "I had gone to meet the Chief Minister and told him there were 22 toll checkposts in Maharashtra. Cost of constructing roads is a little overs Rs 2-5 crore (per road) and the total cost would come to around Rs 100 crore.
"This amount can be recovered in less than a year, but the toll licences have been given for 22 or 23 years. It is pointless collecting toll even after the cost has been recovered. The Chief Minister said, he got the point and he would have them removed.
Asked why his partymen resorted to largescale violence over the issue, Thackeray said: "If they cannot understand simple and straight forward language then what other choices do we have?"
" I'm not against toll. I'm against was process of toll collection. ... See roads are in a terrible shape in Maharashtra. On top of that there are around 10 or 11 types of taxes that are taken for roads. Despite the roads being in bad shape, toll is charged.
"I'm a citizen so I have the right to know where the money is going. And if such huge amount of money is pouring in then why am I not getting good facilities?"
