Mumbai: Throwing its weight behind Bollywood amid a spate of alleged threats and attacks targeting film personalities, the Maharashtra Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP-led Mahayuti government for failing to protect Mumbai’s glamour industry, and warned that the state could could lose out culturally and economically if there was an exodus by filmmakers and actors from Mumbai. State Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a lleging that the deteriorating law-and-order situation had emboldened criminal gangs to train guns at Bollywood personalities – considered a ‘soft target’. “Bollywood actors, producers and directors are being openly targeted in Mumbai, and threats are being issued against them. They all live in constant fear,” Sapkal said at a media interaction at Tilak Bhavan, referring to the recent appeal by All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) to the Centre, as a multi-state police dragnet has been thrown in the past week. Dwelling on the past attacks or threats involving actors Salman Khan, Rohit Shetty and most recently Tiger Shroff, Sapkal questioned “how gangsters could allegedly intimidate the film fraternity while operating from behind bars”. “If gangsters can control the film industry while sitting inside Gujarat’s Sabarmati Central Jail, then what exactly are the police and the BJP governments doing? The appeal by the AICWA reflects the grave situation confronting the entertainment industry,” he said, alleging political patronage had emboldened criminal elements. Warning of the possibility of Bollywood shifting out of Mumbai, Sapkal claimed that already efforts to woo actors and film-makers to other states like Uttar Pradesh have gained momentum. He recalled UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s publicly declaration how he was keen to attract the film industry to his state. The Congress leader wondered “whether the prevailing climate of fear could accelerate the shift”, and said it could deal a big blow to Maharashtra’s cultural identity, employment, economy and its overall image. “If the government cannot control crime and protect people, it should resign,” he reiterated, demanding accountability from the BJP-led Mahayuti government.
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