Mumbai: Opposition parties in Maharashtra targeted the union government on Thursday over the National Film Awards ceremony being moved out of Delhi to Gujarat and alleged it has been done to undermine the importance of the national capital and Mumbai.
The National Film Awards ceremony will be held in Kevadia in Gujarat with President Droupadi Murmu presenting the honours on September 22. Kevadia, which has been renamed Ekta Nagar, is home to the world's tallest statue -- that of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Statue of Unity stands at 597 feet and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
Nationalist Congress Party [NCP (SP)] leader Supriya Sule said the National Film Awards ceremony should be held in New Delhi itself as it is the country's capital.
She also alleged there could be an attempt to reduce the importance of Delhi and Mumbai as various key events, including cricket World Cup matches and visits by foreign heads of state, were increasingly being held in Gujarat.
"For the first time in the 72-year history of the country, the National Awards are being held in Gujarat. Our view is that national awards should always be presented in Delhi. Things that are at the national level should remain at the national level," Sule told reporters.
"When major programmes are held in Delhi, they should be held in Delhi itself. That is why they are called national programmes, because Delhi is the national capital of the country. If it is a national programme, it should be held in the national capital. How can it be held somewhere else?" the Baramati MP questioned.
Citing events like cricket World Cup matches and visits by foreign heads of state increasingly being held in Gujarat, the NCP (SP) working president said it could be an attempt to reduce the importance of Delhi and Mumbai.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray too said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union wants to take everything to Gujarat, be it the Olympic Games or cricket matches.
Aaditya said the Union should take projects like nuclear power plants, the oil refinery project, data centres to Gujarat and move good projects or initiatives to Maharashtra.
"The only thing left to be taken to Gujarat is the Rashtrapati Bhavan"
(Aaditya Thackeray)
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray said India has had many prime ministers before this but none of them tried to forcibly project their home state or their state of work as being greater than it actually was.
"Here, we see the Commonwealth Games being pushed towards Gujarat, the 2023 Cricket World Cup final being held in Gujarat, foreign presidents being taken to Gujarat, and GIFT City being shifted from Mumbai to Gujarat," the MNS chief said.
It is well known that the present rulers are not particularly inclined towards art and culture, and their only real "art" seems to be winning elections at any cost and imposing that will on everyone else, he claimed.
And when it comes to their relationship with cinema, it seems to be limited to getting propaganda-driven films made and then ensuring such films receive awards, Raj Thackeray added.
"The other cinema-loving states in the South may strongly oppose all this. But in Maharashtra, nothing much is likely to happen. Artistes, however, need to raise their voices against it," he said.
He added that the issue is not Kevadia or any other particular city. The issue is why the glorious tradition of presenting these national awards in the country's capital is being broken. Artistes must speak up about that, the MNS chief said.
Tomorrow these people may even issue a diktat saying if there are no venues in Gujarat, there will be no National Film Awards, he opined.
"The Oscars are held in Los Angeles. (US Presidents) Trump, Bush or Obama never tried to move the ceremony to their respective home states," the MNS president said.
"And if Maharashtra and the southern states do not take a strong position, then the same people will eventually roll over the identity and pride of this entire Deccan region. And by then, it will be too late," Thackeray added.