MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday (September 9, 2020) that undue importance is being attached to the statements made by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut.
"We are giving undue importance to those making such statements. We will have to see what influence such statements have on the people at large," the NCP chief told reporters. "In my opinion, people do not take seriously (such statements)," the veteran NCP leader said.
The veteran Maharashtra politician said that people are not taking her remarks seriously. The former Union minister, however, raised doubt over the Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) move to demolish “illegally constructed” portions of the Bandra bungalow of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut.
Pawar said that he is not fully aware of the BMC action against the actress.
“Illegal construction in Mumbai is nothing new. BMC has its own set rules to deal with cases of illegal construction in Mumbai,’’ he said.
Pawar said the people of Maharashtra and Mumbai have "years of experience" of how the state and city's police work.
"They (people) know the performance of the police. And hence, we need not pay heed to what one says," he added.
Ranaut waded into controversy after she recently likened Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and said she feared the city Police more than the "movie mafia".
Ranaut landed in Mumbai from her home state Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, amid protests by Shiv Sena workers at the airport over her remarks on Mumbai police.
Kangana, who flew from Chandigarh by a scheduled commercial flight, landed at Mumbai around 2.30 PM.
Sena workers with black flags were seen outside the airport, shouting slogans against her.
Workers of the RPI (A) and Karni Sena had also gathered in support of the actor. RPI (A) leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale had declared that his party workers will protect Kangana while she is in Mumbai.
Kangana has courted a controversy with her recent comments about the Mumbai Police and Maharashtra. In response to a remark by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut where he asked her not to come back to the city after she claimed she felt unsafe in the city, Kangana had compared Mumbai with PoK.
