Questions State Funeral Accorded to Sridevi
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday targetted Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and said that he was a Canadian citizen.
The MNS chief made the remarks while addressing party workers at a rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.
Raj Thackeray said that films Akshay Kumar, who starred in both the films, was trying to walk in the footsteps of yesteryear actor Manoj Kumar, popularly known as 'Bharat Kumar', he said.
"But Akshay Kumar is not even an Indian citizen. He holds a Canadian passport and his Wikipedia profile describes him as Indian-born Canadian actor," Thackeray said.
The MNS chief also said that films such as 'Toilet Ek Prem Katha' and 'Padman' were a covert propaganda for government schemes.
Thackeray also questioned the government's decision to accord state funeral to Bollywood actor Sridevi after her death last month.
"Sridevi was a great actor, but what had she done for the country so that her body should have been wrapped in the tricolor?" he asked.
Media may have covered her funeral extensively at government's behest to divert people's attention from the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank scam, he said.
During the rally, Raj Thackeray also launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questioned why he takes all the foreign leaders to Ahmedabad.
Modi was apparently visiting foreign countries to get "flour for Pakoda" as his tours haven't fetched any investments, he said taking a dig at prime minister Modi's foreign tours.
The government is trying to control media, judiciary and institutions like CBI, Thackeray said, alleging that media is under tremendous pressure from the government.
Incidentally, Raj Thackeray had met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar ahead of the rally.
He, however, described the meeting at Pawar's residence in south Mumbai as a courtesy call.
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