Following the controversy that erupted over Kunal Kamra's recent comedy special, where he allegedly made derogatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam alleged on Monday that the booking money for the show came from Matoshree, the residence of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
"The place where this show was recorded, the booking money for it came from Matoshree from Uddav Thackeray and that is why Eknath Shinde has been targeted," Nirupam said during a press conference in Mumbai. "The people of Maharashtra have blessed the choice of Eknath Shinde, in that too, Kunal Kamra went forward with allegations because Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray has given him money," he added. The leader further showed a photo of Sanjay Raut and Kunal Kamra at Habitat venue together. The photo is from a previous series of Kamra, called 'Ya Kunal,' where he interviewed UBT leader Sanjay Raut. Alleging that Kamra is part of the "Rahul Gandhi and Congress ecosystem," he added, "He is a man of leftist ideology and a close friend of Sanjay Raut. First he walks with Rahul Gandhi in padyatra and his picture comes with Sanjay Raut, he also meets Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule. And now in the name of stand-up comedy, he has made a very low level comment on our supreme leader Eknath Shinde." He further said that even if Kunal Kamra is not in Mumbai currently, the party's people will find him and "teach him a lesson" if he does not apologise. "Earlier, Kunal Kamra had a house in Mumbai but now he has sold his house and gone away. Now he lives in Gurgaon. If he does not apologize, we are capable of coming to Gurgaon and teaching him a lesson," he said. Saying that the standup comedian has "abused" freedom of speech, he continued, "Freedom of expression is there in this country but it should not be misused but Kunal Kamra has misused it. He has used abusive words. This is not satire and humour, this is not comedy, it is shallowness." Meanwhile, An FIR has been registered against both Kunal Kamra and the Shiv Sena's youth wing, as the group had vandalized the club where the sketch stand-up was performed by Kamra. (ANI)
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