Don't embarrass Big B: Sena to Jaya

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna has asked Samajwadi Party MP and actor Jaya Bachchan not to "vitiate' ' the social climate of Maharashtra by making anti-Marathi statements.

Stating that Mumbai has given a pan-Indian identity to the Bachchan clan, the newspaper-whose editor is Sena chief Bal Thackeraysaid Jaya's anti-Marathi diatribe at a recent film function amounted to confining Amitabh to Uttar Pradesh.

But political observers say the Saamna rhetoric has to be viewed against the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's on-going crusade for Marathi. "If the Sena doesn't raise its decibel level on the issue of Marathi, it risks losing its GenNext grassroots workers to the MNS in the run up to the legislative assembly elections,'' an expert said.

Incidentally, close on the heels of the MNS' campaign for Marathi signboards, senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi had held a press conference to reiterate that Marathi and Marathi 'manoos' constitute the party's agenda since its inception in the 1960s.

"Amitabh doesn't belong to a particular state or region . His art transcends barriers of caste, creed and language . However, Jaya has announced that she and her family belong to UP,'' said the Sena mouthpiece on Tuesday, adding, "Her utterances in the recent past have been a source of mental agony for Amitabh Bachchan.''

Incidentally, the saffron daily also came down heavily on Shahrukh Khan for publicly flaunting his Delhi credentials. "If he (SRK) loves Delhi then why did he come to Mumbai? These people come here, fill up their bellies and then burp in the name of their own states. However, if a Marathi reiterates his affection for Maharashtra , he is branded as parochial.'' Reference to Khan, say Sena watchers, is aimed at placating Bachchan, a close friend of Thackeray.


Source : Times Of India