‘Character assassination of Maharashtra’s sons’: Uddhav Thackeray speaks about Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
This is the first time Uddhav Thackeray has spoken about the controversies surrounding Sushant Singh Rajput’s death that targeted his son Aaditya Thackeray and actor Rhea Chakraborty among others.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday took a veiled dig at actor Kangana Ranaut over the controversy after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death without naming her and said those who hate Maharashtra have left no stone unturned to defame the state.
This is the first time Uddhav Thackeray has spoken about the controversies surrounding Rajput’s death that targeted his son Aaditya Thackeray and actor Rhea Chakraborty among others. “Those crying for justice for Bihar’s son are indulging in character assassination of Maharashtra’s sons,” Thackeray said as he broke his silence on allegations against Aaditya Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena chief was speaking at his party’s annual Dussehra rally at the Savarkar hall in Dadar area of Mumbai due to the coronavirus norms instead of the usual venue of Shivaji Park.
Thackeray said some people come to Mumbai for bread and butter and abuse the city by calling it Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) but did not name Kangana Ranaut. “People who have no means of livelihood in their home come to Mumbai and betray it. Calling Mumbai as PoK is in fact the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had said he would get back PoK into India,” Thackeray said.
Ranaut had kicked up a controversy after she compared Mumbai with PoK in September. Ranaut’s comment was in response to a remark by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, asking her not to come back to the city after she claimed she felt unsafe here. She had also made objectionable comments against the Mumbai Police.
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After Rajput’s death on June 14, Thackeray’s Shiv Sena-led coalition government was criticised by the Bharatiya Janata Party as well and Ranaut over the handling of the case by Mumbai Police. Mumbai Police, which initially probed Rajput’s death, said it was a case of suicide. However, the actor’s family filed a complaint against Rhea Chakraborty and her relatives, accusing her of stealing his money and driving him to end his life among other things.
The case is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Several people, including Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, were arrested by NCB, which is probing the drugs angle in connection with Rajput’s death.
