NEW DELHI: Livid by Kunal Kamra‘s veiled jibe at Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Monday alleged that rival Uddhav faction funded the comic’s show in a Mumbai studio, where the remark was made.
Calling Kamra’s remark against Shinde a “low-level comment”, Nirupam claimed money for the show came from Matoshree, the official residence of Uddhav Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena leader also issued a sharp warning to Kamra, saying “people are searching for him, but we have come to know that he is not in Mumbai and has probably fled from here. We will not leave him until he apologises”.
“In the name of stand-up comedy, he has made a very low-level comment on our supreme leader, Eknath Shinde. The place where this show was recorded and the booking money for it came from Matoshree, from Uddhav Thackeray, and that is why Eknath Shinde Sahab has been targeted,” Nirupam claimed.
Nirupam also highlighted Kamra’s political affiliations to attack him, saying: “Kunal Kamra is a person from Rahul Gandhi and Congress ecosystem, he is a man of leftist ideology and a close friend of Sanjay Raut. He walked with Rahul Gandhi in padyatra, and his picture came out with Sanjay Raut, he also met Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule.
The Shiv Sena leader claimed that Kamra “misused” the freedom of expression and that his remark was not satire or humour.
“At present, an FIR has been lodged against him in MIDC police station, but if he does not apologise, the law will do its work in its way, and we will do our work in our way. Freedom of expression exists in this country, but it should not be misused. Kunal Kamra has misused it. He has used abusive words. This is not satire and humour; this is not comedy, it is shallowness. Shiv Sena has made sure that such shallow people will be taught a lesson,” Nirpam was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Kamra vs Sena
During his stand-up show, Kamra performed a parody of a popular Hindi song from “Dil To Pagal Hai,” referring to Shinde as a “gaddar” (traitor). He also made jokes about recent political developments in Maharashtra, including party splits within Shiv Sena and NCP. “Meri nazar se tum dekho to gaddar nazar wo aaye. Haaye,” Kunal Kamra said during his show.
“Shiv Sena first came out of the BJP, then Shiv Sena came out of Shiv Sena. NCP came out of NCP, they gave nine buttons to one voter… everyone got confused,” he added.
Reacting to Kamra’s remarks, Shiv Sena workers on Sunday vandalised a hotel in Mumbai’s Khar area. The vandals ransacked Hotel Unicontinental in Khar area where the show was shot.
