Bollywood actor Sonu Sood — who has been a messiah for thousands of migrants for organising buses and flight for migrants to return to their native places and has faced criticism from the Shiv Sena for “enacting a political script written by BJP”, was stopped outside the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai by police from meeting labourers.
According to Mumbai Police official the actor was stopped by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and not them when he reached the station on Monday night to meet some labourers. He added that they have not received any complaint so far in this connection.
“The actor was stopped by the RPF, not by us. He wanted to meet labourers who were going to their native place. We have not received any complaint regarding this till now,” Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar police station’s senior inspector Shashikant Bhandare was quoted by PTI as saying.
Sood wanted to meet the migrant labourers who were taking the Shramik Special train from Bandra Terminus to Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, the actor had called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Sunday at his residence which was described as a “courtesy call” by Sood.
Tweeting on the meeting, Aaditya Thackeray wrote, “This evening Sonu Sood met up with Uddhav Thackeray ji along with Minister Aslam Shaikh ji and me. Better Together, Stronger Together to assist as many people through as many people. Good to have met a good soul to work for the people together”.
The Sena has alleged it as a move to show the Maharashtra government in poor light even as ruling Nationalist Congress Party leader and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh lauded the actor.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana said that Sonu Soon is the new “Mahatma” and he had appeared abruptly out of nowhere during the coronavirus lockdown.
Raut said, “Maharashtra has had a tradition of social work and it has seen great social workers like Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Baba Amte who are from Maharashtra. Now a new name has emerged in this list and that is Sonu Sood.”
The editorial further raised questions as to how the actor was able to get buses during the Coronavirus lockdown, also when the Centre and state was not able to do it.
“One has seen in videos and pictures, Sonu Sood has been on roads, in the scorching heat, trying to help the migrant workers,” the Saamana article read.
“Sood is an actor whose profession is to deliver dialogues scripted by someone else and make a living out of it. There are many people like Sood who would promote any political party if paid well,” Raut further wrote.
The Sena leader further probed Sood’s efforts saying that if the other states were not letting migrant workers enter, where did those people he rescued, reached.
Sanjay Raut had stated that “The BJP has (politically) adopted Sonu Sood and tried to create an influence among the North Indian migrant workers. The BJP was struggling to stay politically relevant during the coronavirus crisis and faced a severe backlash from public, who detested the frequent criticism of the Thackeray government by BJP leaders.”
Taking a dig at the BJP, Raut said people might soon get to hear Sood’s name in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio programme, and the actor meeting him in person in Delhi. “Sood might even visit Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi as a star campaigner for the BJP. When most of the actors were sitting at home, Sonu Sood’s acting skills were flourishing,” he stated.
“You do not need a screen all the time to show your acting skills, as has been demonstrated by Mahatma Sood. His political directors are experts in their field. We will soon come to know about his next political move,” he added.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Sonu Sood had a meeting at Raj Bhavan on May 31, where they discussed his initiative to help the migrants reach their home states. Koshyari had applauded his endeavour and assured full support for his actions.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also backed Sood for his work for stranded migrant workers, and questioned the Shiv Sena’s criticism of the actor.