New Delhi: She invited the ire of Maharashtra polity and public alike, and also put her party in a tight spot with her “casual” remarks on north Indians.
But just ahead of the crucial Maharashtra civic polls, actor-turned-Rajya Sabha MP from BJP, Hema Malini has gone on a hasty damage control.
On Friday, Hema retracted her remarks saying they had been “wrongly interpreted” by the media and "blown out of proportion".
"I was sitting at the function when some television channel reporters attempted to ask me questions while I was watching a programme on the stage. I was unable to hear the questions properly due to the noise and merely to keep the away in a humorous vein I gave a reply," Hema was quoted as saying in a written statement signed by her secretary M A Mehta.
The actress also made clear in her statement that she had “great respect for north Indians” and held them in high regard.
Hema was electioneering for the February 1 local corporation elections when she was asked at a meeting about north Indians not being happy with the treatment given to them. "If they have a problem, they should go back," she allegedly replied.
Pointing out that she had worked in a hit Bhojpuri film and performed a dance recital at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, Hema said she loved the community and had no authority to tell or advise north Indians to leave the city.
She also asked the political parties not to politicise the issue any more.
Her comments created a huge furore in Maharashtra – going to civic polls next week - with her political rivals and discerning Mumbaikars criticising it as "irresponsible behaviour" by a responsible actor-politician.
Congress and NCP reacted strongly to the comments and party workers burnt her effigy and said “Hema should remember she was a politician first and an actress later”.
political controversy after she launched a diatribe against the non-Marathi Mumbaikars, telling them to leave the tinsel town "if they have any problems staying here".
In comments attributed to her — which comes in the wake of the much slammed racist slur by Celebrity Big Brother star Jade Goody against Shilpa Shetty — Hema Malini said: "If the migrants feel they have problems staying in Mumbai, then they can go back."
Hema Malini was electioneering for the February 1 local corporation elections when she was asked at a meeting about north Indians not being happy with the treatment given to them. "If they have a problem, they should go back," she allegedly replied.
Reacting to the remarks, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Husain Dalwai said: "She should remember that she is an MP first and then an actor" before making such "irresponsible statement."
"She should also remember that her husband (actor-MP Dharmendra) is a north Indian and her children are also half-north Indian," he told PTI.
With the BMC elections round the corner, Hema Malini's comments sparked off a huge controversy with her political rivals and discerning Mumbaikars criticising it as "irresponsible behaviour" by a responsible actor-politician.
While the Rajya Sabha MP from Bharatiya Janata Party didn't target any specific migrant group, her comments were seen to be directed mainly at the north Indian population based in India's commercial capital.
Mumbai has a large population of north Indians, especially those hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, apart from having a significant number of migrant population from different southern states.
However, what has puzzled political observers here is the fact that Hema Malini's comments came at a time when the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is trying hard to woo the significant north Indian vote bank in the city for the upcoming BMC elections.
Comments
0 comment