Kunal Kamra row: Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Mahayuti government’s response to Kunal Kamra’s remark on Eknath Shinde highlighted its intolerance. Several Opposition leaders in Maharashtra have extended their support to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra amid a row over his alleged joke on deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Tuesday said the response from the Mahayuti government to Kunal Kamra’s remark on Eknath Shinde highlighted the government’s intolerance towards any form of criticism. Referring to the vandalisation of the Habitat Studio in Mumbai’s Khar area where Kunal Kamra’s show was filmed, Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “The controversy is proof of how intolerant the governments are towards any kind of criticism. We had seen that at the centre, and now that model is being implemented in the states. People of the former CM, who is a Dy CM now, go and vandalise someone’s personal property… Not just their goons, BMC was also there.”
Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) MLA Rohit Pawar said freedom of speech needs to be upheld irrespective of ideologies and noted that the Bharatiya Janata Party has different yardsticks for when the party is in power and when they were in Opposition.
Referring to a past incident, Rohit Pawar noted that leaders of the BJP who had defended Kangana Ranaut when she compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were now riled up over Kunal Kamra’s comments on Eknath Shinde.
“When the opposition was in power, Kangana Ranaut (BJP MP) made a statement comparing Mumbai to PoK. At that time, Devendra Fadnavis had a very different reaction, terming the action against her unfair, despite it being an anti-national statement,” Pawar said. Pawar added that the statement now of Fadnavis, who is the chief minister and has the portfolio of the home minister, is totally contradictory. “When you are in power, and there is an action against your karyakarta, then your stance changes. We are saying to maintain uniformity in your statements. Whatever Kamra has said is his issue, I feel you should maintain the freedom of speech.”
Kangana Ranaut slams Kunal Kamra
Disgracing anyone in the name of comedy is in bad taste, actor and MP Kangana Ranaut said as she weighed in on the ongoing controversy over comic Kunal Kamra’s remarks.
Ranaut, a BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, was speaking to reporters outside the Parliament in New Delhi.
