Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray addressed his party workers at a rally in Shivaji Park, Mumbai on Sunday, 18 March on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, in an hour-long speech. While calling for a Modi- Mukt country, he lamented the media glare on Sridevi’s demise.
Thackeray alleged that Sridevi’s state funeral was the state government’s ploy to divert attention from the PNB scam.
“Nirav Modi was the talk of the town, and then the issue of Sridevi came in. This was brought to change the issue. When a person like Sridevi dies, you wrap her in tricolour and you say you did that because she was a Padma Shri. It was said that Sridevi died by drowning in the bathtub as she consumed too much of liquor. Films like ‘Toilet Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Padman’ were a covert propaganda for government schemes.”Raj Thackeray
"Sridevi was a great actor, but what did she do for the country that her body was wrapped in the tricolour?" the MNS chief asked, dismissing her achievements in Indian cinema in one fell swoop.
He even took a dig at Akshay Kumar by slamming his films and pointing out that he is not even an Indian citizen.
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