The Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday came in for flak after demolishing portions of the Bandra bungalow of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, with some critics saying she was targeted while other defaulters were spared.
The 33-year-old actor has alleged that the Maharashtra government is targeting her because of her fight with the Shiv Sena.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the demolition process initiated by the BMC for illegal construction at Ranaut’s bungalow and sought to know why did the city civic body enter the property when the owner was not present.
Vendetta politics says BJP
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra is playing vendetta politics.
Kangana said the civic body should focus on the shoddy state of roads instead of targeting her bungalow.
“BMC, these are Mumbai road and all you are concerned about is DEMOLITION of an actress house who is exposing mafia.
KUDOS to you..!! #DeathOfDemocracy,” Kangana tweeted. She also posted a photo of a Mumbai road riddled with several potholes.”
“Tell Kangana to keep the faith. We are with her in this struggle,” tweeted BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
Many construction violations across Mumbai
Senior journalist Nauzer Bharucha said, “If a forensic audit is done of most new buildings that have come up in Bandra-Khar area, it would reveal massive FSI manipulation, illegal floors, unauthorised balconies and construction areas much more than what is permissible.”
“The demolition of the unauthorised portion of Kangana Ranauts bungalow on Pali Hill is nothing but a muscular show of state power when much bigger construction crimes have been condoned,” said Bharucha, who has been covering real estate for over two decades for a leading English newspaper here.
“A few years ago, when comedian Kapil Sharma publicly accused BMC officials of seeking a Rs five lakh bribe from him, the civic administration promptly issued him a demolition notice for his Goregaon apartment,” he said.
Activists slam 'selective' action
Activists criticised the demolition of `illegal’ alterations at actor Kangana Ranaut’s bungalow here on Wednesday, saying there are thousands of other illegal structures, but the civic body turns a blind eye to them.
Godfrey Pimenta, lawyer and trustee of the NGO Watchdog Foundation, said the BMC should have given at least 48 hours to the actor to reply to its notice, though not seven days as asked by her lawyer.
“There are thousands of illegal structures in the city. The law should be applied equally to all citizens. The action shouldn’t be selective,” he said.
Subhash Gupta, another activist, said had the BMC shown such alacrity in removing illegal slums, Mumbai would not have become so “unkempt“.
“Thousands of Bangladeshi nationals are staying in illegal 3-4-storey slums a stone’s throw away from Kalanagar (where Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray lives),” he said.
“Hasn’t (the BMC) seen those?” he asked.
Activist Jitendra Gupta claimed that the BMC committed a contempt of the Bombay High Court by violating its order in another matter where it had asked the civic body not to carry out demolitions till September given the coronavirus pandemic.
“Political parties take the liberty to behave like organised gangs against individuals whenever anyone behaves against their wishes,” Gupta said.