Girish Mahajan apologises after Worli rally traffic jam video ow
3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Apr 22, 2026 08:47 PM IST
A day after a video of a woman confronting him over a traffic jam went viral, BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Girish Mahajan on Wednesday apologised to commuters, saying he was “personally sorry” for the inconvenience caused by his party’s rally in Worli, but added that the use of “foul language” by the woman against party workers was not correct.
Breaking his silence on an incident that left the party visibly embarrassed, Mahajan said, “The BJP had organised a rally at Worli in support of women reservation bill. The rally led to traffic congestion. A woman walked up to me and appeared angry. It is evident she was upset with traffic congestion. I tried to pacify her and give her audience. I assured her that traffic problem would get resolved in 10 to 15 minutes.”
A video widely circulated on social media since Tuesday showed an angry woman confronting the Water Resources Minister over the gridlock, telling him to “get out of here”. Attempts by Mahajan to pacify her failed.
Explaining the incident, Mahajan said, “While we reckon hardships to people due to traffic jam, it is not something that the BJP did deliberately. When you have such protests, it leads to traffic jams. It had happened in the past with all rallies. This is an issue not restricted to Mumbai alone. It has happened across country. About yesterday’s incident, there were several persons who were getting restless because of the traffic issue.”
He added, “During the rallies there were thousands on the street. And knowing it was blocking the commuters, our activists tried to help ease the traffic. Unfortunately, some threw bottles at us, which was not right. Also use of foul language by the woman against us was not correct. Personally, I apologise saying sorry to her and all those inconvenienced by traffic snarl. I also reassured we will take care this was not repeated in future.”
The rally called Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam was organised by the BJP on Tuesday at Worli to protest against the Opposition for defeating the amended constitutional amendment bill to advance women’s reservation to 2029. The Bill could not garner two-thirds support in the Lok Sabha, however, the 2023 Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to provide women’s quotas post-delimitation after the figures of the present census are released still stands.
Hundreds of BJP workers carrying placards marched to the venue during peak hours, bringing traffic to a standstill for nearly an hour, leaving commuters stranded.
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State Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said, “The incident should be an eye-opener for BJP, which is trying to project itself as women’s champion. The video has exposed the BJP’s real face… In Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has shown BJP its place. The Opposition defeated the legislation because BJP’s agenda was to push delimitation under women legislation.”
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier appealed to party workers to continue agitating for women’s reservation rights, saying they “should not relent till the legislation is approved and enforced in Parliament”. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office called the traffic congestion “unfortunate”, adding, “The BJP always directs its workers to ensure there is no hardship to people when they organise events.”
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