Raj Thackeray, CM Devendra Fadnavis under fire over film ‘flip flop’

In the wake of allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to sideline Shiv Sena, the latter said ‘everyone uses the MNS’.

The MNS, which has only one MLA and has witnessed a decline, saw a change in its fortunes after it protested against the presence of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM). After the opposition to the film was withdrawn, not only MNS chief Raj Thackeray but also chief minister Devendra Fadnavis — who met the former and ADHM director Karan Johar on Saturday morning — were targeted by the Opposition.

Congress and NCP on Saturday slammed Mr Fadnavis for ‘brokering’ a truce between MNS and the producers of ADHM. Meanwhile, the BJP said that the MNS is synonymous with backtracking on issues.

Shiv Sena was happy to criticise its rival MNS over the alleged U-turn. “MNS has never remained firm on its stands. Earlier, Congress used MNS in the 2009 polls and got elected. Now someone else is using the MNS for political gains,” Sena leader Anil Parab said. When asked why the Sena had kept mum on the issue of opposing Pakistani artists this time, Mr Parab said, “We have never changed our stand against Pakistani artists and players. But we wanted the people should know that how MNS withdraws from issues after raising them,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said that with a ‘track record of taking U-turns’, it was expected that the MNS that withdraw its opposition to the film. “The people have become well versed with their style. They picked up popular sentiments after Uri attack and now betrayed them. Also, the MNS has for `5 crore be paid when the film was made for `350 crore and the Pakistani artists also must have received crores of rupees. I would also point out that Karan Johar has not condemned Uri attack even once. So, what is the use of such a protest,” he said.

Mr Bhandari, however, denied that his party was using the MNS to damage its ally.

“How the issue is going to benefit us We are neither losing nor gaining anything,” he added.

The NCP said that, by asking filmmakers to pay`5 crore towards the Army Welfare Fund, Mr Thackeray had insulted our martyrs. “The CM settled the matter today at his residence by calling a meeting with Karan Johar and Raj Thackeray. The CM’s job is to maintain the law and order situation in the state and not make settlements,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

Slamming Mr Thackeray for ‘backtracking’, Mr Malik said that it was in his nature. “Raj has changed his stands earlier too. He has never taken any issue to its logical end. BJP and MNS are hand in glove and the saffron party is using the latter to damage Shiv Sena,” Mr Malik added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Congress has termed it ‘shocking’ that the CM was instrumental in the ‘settlement’. “The CM has failed to maintain the law and order situation in the state. But he has unconstitutionally ‘settled’ the issue. When Congress was ruling, the film My Name Is Khan received similar threats by Shiv Sena. However, the Congress did not pay Sena any heed and released the movie without any untoward incident,” Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.