Protesters threatened to go on a hunger strike after the numbers of lottery winners, who are eligible to run stalls outside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount during the weeklong Bandra fair, were announced on Monday. However, they didn’t get permission from the police to carry out the hunger strike on church premises.

The controversy erupted on August 11 over the tenfold increase in the rent paid by those running stalls during the fair. Former stall owners also protested against a tendering system introduced last year, which opens the doors to people other than those traditionally operating stalls. Due to the protest by around 150 stallholders who have been selling their products for several generations, the church lowered the rent from R3,000 to R900 per square foot and then to R550 per square foot plus GST.