Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday backed comedian Kunal Kamra and said there was “nothing wrong" in his remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Speaking to reporters over the controversy, Thackeray said, “I don’t think Kunal Kamra said anything wrong. Calling a ‘gaddar‘, a ‘gaddar‘ is not an attack on anyone."
“Hear the full song (from Kunal Kamra’s show) and make others hear it too. Shiv Sena has nothing to do with this attack, this has been done by the ‘gaddar sena‘…Those who have ‘gaddari‘ in their blood can never be a Shiv Sainik," he said.
Echoing his father, Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray questioned the vandalism of the Mumbai studio where Kamra’s show was shot, and asked, “Why did they do violence there? This is taporigiri and mawalipana… will the Chief Minister put an end to this?"
“The whole country and the world knows who is Gaddar and Chor," he said.
As the row erupted on Monday, Aditya Thackeray had said, “Mindhe’s coward gang breaks the comedy show stage where comedian @kunalkamra88 put out a song on Eknath's mind which was 100% true. Only an insecure coward would react to a song by someone." (sic).
(Thackeray always uses the Marathi word ‘Mindhe’ while referring to Eknath Shinde to taunt him, as it means subservient.)
During his performance at the Habitat Comedy Club at the Unicontinental hotel in Khar area, Kamra had referred to Shinde as a “traitor" and went on to sing a parody on him.
Kamra used a modified version of a Hindi song from the movie ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai‘ to describe the 2022 rebellion of Shinde against his then-boss Uddhav Thackeray.
As multiple videos of Kamra’s humour went viral, workers of the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) ransacked the show’s venue.
Later, they also got a First Information Report (FIR) registered against Kamra.
As the controversy snowballed, the Mumbai Police on Monday arrested Shiv Sena functionary Rahul Kanal and 11 others for vandalising the Mumbai hotel venue.
