Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik wrote to the Speaker stating that on September 3, Ranaut had tweeted, comparing Mumbai to PoK and that she did not trust the Mumbai Police.The UNION Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has accorded Y+ category security to Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut. The decision comes in the wake of a spat between Ranaut and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, with the actor comparing Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and claiming a threat to her life in the city.
“An assessment has been made by intelligence agencies and it has been concluded that there is a threat to her life and accordingly security is being provided,” a Home Ministry official said. The ministry’s order said she would be provided security across the country.
Thanking Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ranaut tweeted, “This shows that no one can crush a patriot in the country… Had he (Amit Shah) wanted, he would have told me to visit Mumbai later but he respected India’s daughter and acknowledged my self-respect. Jai Hind.” Ranaut, who is in her home state Himachal Pradesh currently, has said she would be returning to Mumbai on September 9.
ये प्रमाण है की अब किसी देशभक्त आवाज़ को कोई फ़ासीवादी नहीं कुचल सकेगा,मैं @AmitShah जी की आभारी हूँ वो चाहते तो हालातों के चलते मुझे कुछ दिन बाद मुंबई जाने की सलाह देते मगर उन्होंने भारत की एक बेटी के वचनों का मान रखा, हमारे स्वाभिमान और आत्मसम्मान की लाज रखी, जय हिंद 🙏 https://t.co/VSbZMG66LT
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 7, 2020
According to a source, under the Y+ category, Ranaut will be allocated 11 commandos in all, with two armed ones for her mobile security at any time, and one guarding her residence.
Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar called the Centre’s move “politically motivated” and accused Ranaut of being the BJP’s “parrot”. State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the move was “surprising”, given how the actor had “insulted” Mumbai and Maharashtra.
Calling Ranaut Himachal Pradesh’s “daughter”, state Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said they had requested for a paramilitary force to provide security to the actor, after being approached by her father and sister. In a video statement, Thakur said the state police would guard the actor’s Manali residence and added that he had told the DGP to assess the threat to her. “If necessary, Himachal Pradesh is ready to provide her security during her tours… her security is important for us.”
In what Ranaut called a related development, on Monday afternoon, a team of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited her office at Pali Hill to check for “illegal construction”. BMC officials said a team from the Building Proposal Department and H-West ward inspected the premises to check for deviations from approved plans.
Officials termed the inspection a routine exercise. The Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Zone 3, Parag Masurkar, said a BMC team had inspected about five to six properties in Pali Hill lane, including Ranaut’s property.
As per the BMC plans of 1979, the two-storey bungalow, spread over 3,000 sq ft, is a residential property. Ranaut had bought it in 2017 and in January this year, opened an office there. “Prima facie there are some deviations from the plans and we found a change of user (from residential to commercial). The BMC team is preparing a report based on the inspection and approved plans which will be ready in two days. Further course of action will be decided after that,” a civic official said.
A source in the BMC said that in 2018, the civic body had served a notice on Ranaut for illegal construction at her house in Khar Road, under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. “The actor had challenged the notice. The matter is pending in the Dindoshi court,” a senior BMC official said.
Ranaut said she had all the papers and permissions needed, and that “nothing has been done illegal in my property”. She also claimed that she had not been served a notice and still, on Tuesday, the BMC would be “demolishing (the) entire structure”.
Ranaut has been quite vocal on the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, saying she felt unsafe after the incident, attacking “Bollywood elite”, hinting at a “drug culture”, and questioning the Maharashtra administration over its probe into the matter.
Tagging a September 1 news report quoting Raut as purportedly saying that she should not come back to Mumbai if she was afraid of the city police, Ranaut tweeted a few days back, “Why is Mumbai feeling like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir?”
Addressing the Assembly on Monday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “Some people have gratitude towards the city where they live and earn their livelihood, but some don’t.”
Former CM Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP does not support Ranaut’s remarks likening Mumbai to PoK, but added that it was the responsibility of the government to protect her. Even terrorists have to be provided security under the law, he said. “We are not living in a banana republic.”
In reaction to Ranaut’s remarks, Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, had used a pejorative and called her ungrateful for what the city and state had given her. Raut had urged the Maharashtra government to take against people “defaming” the city police, and asked Ranaut to tour the PoK first to see the situation prevailing there. Ranaut had hit back, via a video statement, accusing Raut of displaying a mindset that was responsible for assaults on women across the country.
The actor had also declared that she would return to Mumbai on September 9, and was not afraid of threats against her.
with ENS, Shimla