Echoing the sentiments of the BJP, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut continued her offensive against Shiv Sena saying that the party founded by Balasaheb Thackeray has now become “Sonia Sena”.
Towing the BJP line, the 33-year-old actor has launched a diatribe against Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, his son and minister Aaditya Thackeray and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress on the issue of mob lynching of two sadhus and their driver in Palghar district and the investigations into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
“….one must never succumb to bullies, after losing elections Shiv Sena shamelessly made ‘milavat sarkar’ and turned into Sonia Sena,” Kangana said tagging BJP stalwart and Maharashtra’s leader of opposition and ex-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty,” said Amruta, the banker-activist wife of Fadnavis, coming out in support of Kangana.
Her statement comes a day after the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished illegal alterations in her office Manikarnika Films Pvt Ltd that is located in her private bungalow at Pali Hill in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut refused to comment. “The BMC is in a better position to comment. There is a legal department there, you can contact them…you can speak to the mayor and municipal commissioner,” he said.
Asked about Kangana referred to Thackeray as “tu” and “tujhe”, he said: “The 11 crore people of Maharashtra have heard that.”
Kangana garnered support from BJP-ruled states including the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, her home. “The Shiv Sena has shunned the principles for which it was formed. Its existence is over ever since it tied up with the Congress to form the government in Maharashtra,” Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai RamThakur said.
Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment and RPI president Ramdas Athawale, a crucial ally of the BJP in Maharashtra, visited the Pali Hill bungalow and sympathised with the actor.
The apex body of monastic orders, Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP) too have supported Kangana. “The fearless voice of the actor against nepotism and domination of a particular community in Bollywood besides the nexus existing between the film industry and the drug Mafia has caused ripples. The mafia and state government are both in fear and simply hitting out at her,” said ABAP president Mahant Narendra Giri.
The Shiv Sena-controlled BMC’s act of undertaking a demolition has put the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Congress, who are Sena’s partners in Maha Vikas Aghadi government, in an embarrassing situation.