Yogi Woos Bollywood to UP’s Film City, Shiv Sena Govt Hits Back
Adityanath had recently unveiled an ambitious plan to set up a film city in Noida.
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"It is not easy to shift Mumbai's film city to another place," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said on 2 December in Mumbai. The statements came hours before Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath met a delegation of Bollywood personalities to discuss the future of a proposed film city in his state.
Adityanath came under attack from Shiv Sena for his attempts to reach out to Bollywood to make more movies in his state, during on a day-long visit to Mumbai. Adityanath, who arrived in Mumbai Tuesday evening, has already met artistes like Kailash Kher and actor Akshay Kumar.
Adityanath had recently unveiled an ambitious plan to set up a film city in Noida.
“The film industry in south India is also big. There are film cities in West Bengal and Punjab, too. Will Yogi ji visit these places, too, and talk to directors and artistes there? Or is he going to do it only in Mumbai?" Sanjay Raut said.
Uddhav Thackeray Weighs In
In response, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said nobody will be allowed to forcibly take away business from his state.
“We are not jealous if someone progresses, we do not have any problem with someone's progress if one competes. But if you are going to forcibly take anything away, then, of course, I won't let it happen and you (industrialists) will not be willing to go," he said.
Yogi’s Defence
Later in the day, Yogi defended his proposal, stressing that “we've not come here to take anything away.”
“We're building a new Film City. Why one is getting worried about it? We're giving something new to people in form of world-class infrastructure,” he added.
‘Conspiracy to Shift Bollywood”\’
Similarly, the Congress on Tuesday alleged there was a conspiracy to shift Bollywood to UP. "The BJP is now readying a script to take away a slice of Bollywood in the name of the Uttar Pradesh government...we won't let it happen...," Maharashtra PWD Minister Ashok Chavan tweeted.
He also went on to claim, “When BJP was in power in Maharashtra, many industries and offices were shifted to Gujarat,” alleging that the BJP is moving Bollywood to their northern state.
(With inputs from ANI and Outlook)
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