Mumbai/Shimla: Actor Kangana Ranaut left Mumbai Monday for her home state Himachal Pradesh. Kangana Ranaut said she has been terrorised with ‘constant attacks and abuses’. She also said that her analogy comparing the city with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was ‘bang on’.
This happened even as the Shiv Sena and the Congress continued their relentless attack on Kangana. Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab said Kangana should shift base if she thinks Mumbai is Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Meanwhile AICC secretary Ashish Dua said Mumbai is ‘pride’ of Maharashtra and India. To demean the city by likening it to PoK PoK) is ‘blasphemy’. He however, did not refer to the name of Kangana.
Meanwhile Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur welcomed her return. He accused Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena-Congress government of having harassed her. Ranaut took a flight to Chandigarh and then travelled by road to reach Manali.
The actor’s comments triggered a spat with Maharashtra’s ruling Shiv Sena. She had come to Mumbai from her home in Manali last week for a short visit. On the same day, her office in Mumbai faced action for ‘illegal’ alterations by Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Kangana then moved the Bombay High Court which stayed the demolition.
“With a heavy heart leaving Mumbai, the way I was terrorised all these days. Constant attacks and abuses hurled at me attempts to break my house after my work place, alert security with lethal weapons around me, must say my analogy about POK was bang on (sic),” Ranaut wrote on Twitter.
Kangana targeted the ruling party in Maharashtra. The 33-year-old actor said the protectors had declared themselves to be ‘destroyers’. They were working towards dismantling democracy.
“But they are wrong to think I’m weak. By threatening and abusing a woman, they are ruining their own image,” stated Kangana.
Meanwhile Parab’s comments came hours after the actress left Mumbai.
“If Mumbai is this bad, then she should live where she finds it right. We had said this earlier too and we continue to hold this view,” Parab told reporters. The minister asserted that the Sena had no ‘personal issues’ with Kangana. “At the same time, the party cannot just listen if someone criticises or says bad things about the megapolis,” he pointed out.
“She has to decide what she wants to do. Maharashtra will decide what it has to do. She should shift from here, if she thinks Mumbai is like PoK,” the minister added.
Meanwhile AICC secretary Dua took to Twitter to hit back at Kangana.
“Mumbai is pride of #Maharashtra & entire India. This is a city which has realised dreams of millions without prejudice or discrimination. To demean it by comparing with PoK is blasphemy. Guv office is not for politics,” Dua tweeted.
Dua’s tweet came a day after Kangana met Maharashtra governor Koshyari to apprise him about the ‘injustice’ done to her.
The Congress is one of the ruling constituents of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghahdi (MVA) dispensation. The other party in the alliance is the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).