Bachchan row exposes chink in ‘link’

“The party is aware of what happened there. The CM has clarified the situation. The question is not about Bachchan as a person or an actor. There is resentment against him among party workers,but the reason is not personal. Their anger is because of the fact that Bachchan is seen standing by the side of Narendra Modi. In such a situation,Congress workers have the moral right to do so (criticise),” said AICC media cell head Janardan Dwivedi.

Senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar,however,justified the presence of Bachchan at the function saying that even Opposition parties are invited to official functions. “As far as Bachchan is concerned,he is a celebrity. Such official functions are not of any political party. Even the Shiv Sena and BJP are invited. Sachin Tendulkar was contacted,but he was not available. It was not a Congress function. There was no intention to create a controversy,” he said.

The controversy is being seen as having its roots in the groupism within the Congress and the ambition of Mumbai Region Congress Committee president Kripashankar Singh to become a minister in the Chavan Cabinet. The invitation cards issued by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation did not mention Bachchan as an invitee,but advertisements mentioned him as a special invitee. NCP leaders like Minister for Public Works Jaidutt Kshirsagar,who also heads MSRDC,justified Bachchan being invited to the function on grounds that he was a Mumbai icon. Singh,who did not attend the function,said Congress leaders such as Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde should have been invited for the function,hosted by the MSRDC which is controlled by the NCP.

Actor criticises manufactured rows

Express News Service

Thiruvananthapuram/ Mumbai

ENRAGED over the Kerala government’s decision to abandon the idea of making him the state’s tourism ambassador,Amitabh Bachchan has reacted sharply. The central leadership of the CPM had shot down the state’s plan to rope in Bachchan,citing that the actor was doing the same job for BJP-ruled Gujarat.

Bachchan also said the controversy over his presence at the inauguration of the second phase of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link has been “manufactured”. “A fresh controversy has been rapidly manufactured on my involvement,” he wrote in a midnight post on his blog.

In response to Kerala decision,Bachchan wrote in his blog: “You want to stop me from promoting tourism in a state because you have reason to believe that there are political connotations to the event. This is such rubbish. All I shall be doing will be working in a short film that shall highlight the various places of interest in the state (Gujarat) so that it encourages more tourists to visit the region. And that is what I would precisely do when I would be asked to similar acts in Kerala. It is a petty act of cheap convenience to prevent me from doing that,and by pitting me against political connotations and manoeuvres without paying any respect for the actual work that would be done. Fair enough! I shall abide by the judgment of the state government. I did not ask them for it,they came forward with the invitation,I accepted. Now they want to decline it,fine. Not the first time such incident has happened. Invitation to be the chief guest at Goa International Film Festival and when I get there,they decline it.”

Bachchan did not spare the media either. “It is a common Indian media trait — finding fault at any cost to any act or event. Merit for the moment and the work not interesting enough to sell and so de-merit the moment. And in such matters if you could highlight a celebrity,preferably from the film world,into the matter,you would have discovered a way and means to keep the story rolling for a few weeks. You take umbrage at my association with Gujarat,but never have the guts or courage to stop a Ratan Tata,or an Ambani from investing in the state and running successful factories and ventures there.

WITH PTI INPUTS