Reacting to Shiv Sena allegation that Uttar Pradesh was trying to steal the film industry from Mumbai, UP’s Minister of State for Minority Welfare and Muslim Waqf, Mohsin Raza, said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Maharashtra was threatening Bollywood through “underworld” channels.
“The Maharashtra government is acting under pressure from the underworld and that is evident from the statements by senior Shiv Sena leaders, including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut. It seems there is some kind of a pressure on them,” Raza said while talking to a select group of reporters here on Wednesday.
He said that the Maharashtra government was terrified over Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to Mumbai and the response he got from Bollywood and industrialists and therefore the Shiv Sena leaders had issued statements against the UP chief minister and his attempt to set up a film city in Noida.
A day before Yogi Adityanath’s visit to Mumbai, the Shiv Sena had alleged a conspiracy to snatch away the city’s film city to UP, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had vowed not to allow anybody to “forcibly” take away businesses.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had even said it was not easy to shift Mumbai’s film city elsewhere even though attempts had been made for it.
“Uttar Pradesh has no plans of taking away the film business out of Mumbai. It is an ‘open competition’ and the one who gives the right atmosphere and security in which talent can work will get the investments,” Raza said.
He said that Uttar Pradesh had a rich heritage of culture. “There are sites of cultural heritage like Mathura, Kashi, and Ayodhya. There are several film-makers, directors and artistes who want to leave Mumbai and come to Uttar Pradesh but they are being intimidated via the underworld,” he said.