Arrest Kamra soon, don’t test our patience: Maharashtra minister

Pune: Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai on Thursday criticised comedian Kunal Kamra over his recently reposted video targeting Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, stating that it was time for him to receive the “prasad of Shiv Sena”.

Speaking in Satara, Desai urged the police to arrest Kamra at the earliest, warning that any delay would test the patience of party workers.

The controversy escalated after Kamra’s parody song, which took aim at Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde. Outraged by the act, Sena workers vandalised a Mumbai studio on Sunday night where Kamra’s show had been recorded.

“We are maintaining restraint only because Shinde has asked us to,” Desai told reporters. “As Sena workers, we know how to pull him out from wherever he is hiding. But as ministers, we have certain limitations,” he said.

Addressing the police, Desai said, “Do not test our patience. Arrest him from wherever he is, put him in a tyre, and give him ‘prasad’.”

In Marathi, “prasad” typically refers to an offering made to God, but is sometimes used as a euphemism for punishment.

Kamra’s parody song, set to a tune from the film Dil Toh Pagal Hai, featured the word “gaddar” (traitor), seemingly aimed at Shinde. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and its mouthpiece Saamana frequently use this term to describe Shinde and his faction, who broke away from Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership in June 2022.

Following the Sunday night attack, activists affiliated with the Shinde-led Sena damaged the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai’s Khar area. Several individuals were arrested but later released on bail. Meanwhile, Khar police registered a first information report (FIR) against Kamra based on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel, accusing him of making defamatory remarks against Shinde. Authorities have since summoned Kamra for questioning.