Mumbai:
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari expressed his displeasure at the decision of the Mumbai civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to demolish the alleged “illegal alterations” in the office of actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been attacking the state government over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and has sparked a controversy with his comparison of the city with Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the PTI news agency reported today.
The governor summoned Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s top aide, Ajoy Mehta, on Wednesday as the demolition was taking place, and expressed his displeasure, a source told the new agency.
Using a bulldozer and excavators, a BMC team demolished the alterations allegedly made without civic body approval at its Bandra office on Wednesday.
The BMC had listed 14 “violations” in his office, which included a bathroom apparently built in a space marked for a kitchen and an office installed in an area designated for a bathroom.
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had told NDTV that he had not produced documents “in 24 hours”.
But BMC’s move raised questions like whether the actress had been given enough time, having been out of Mumbai for months, and why no action was taken earlier.
Ms Ranaut, who had challenged the Shiv Sena to prevent her from coming to Mumbai on September 9 after bitter exchanges with the ruling party leaders over her comment on the PoK, had attacked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
“Uddhav Thackeray, tujhe kya lagta hai? (What do you think?) That you colluded with the movie mafia, demolished my house and got revenge on me? My house was demolished today, your arrogance will collapse tomorrow,” he had said. .
The Mumbai High Court, following the actor’s request on Wednesday, ordered the demolition of his office to halt, but considerable property damage had been done until then. The court today postponed hearing the case until September 22.
The head of the CPN, Sharad Pawar, a key ally of Thackeray, also expressed his displeasure at the timing of the move. “Illegal construction is not a new thing in Mumbai. But acting in the context of the ongoing controversy raises questions. But BMC has its own reasons and rules and acted on them,” he had told reporters.
Ms Ranaut, a staunch supporter of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had said that she did not feel safe in Mumbai under the combined Sena-Congress-NCP rule. She later responded to Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s comment that she shouldn’t come to town by making the controversial comment: “Why does Mumbai feel like PoK?”
Several Seine leaders, including Mr. Raut, had made objectionable comments against Ms. Ranaut.
With PTI inputs
.
