Mumbai: Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar, who had quit Congress last year, on Tuesday joined Shiv Sena. At her maiden appearance an actor turned politician announced that she would like to elevate herself from a ‘’Peoplemade’’ star to a ‘’Peoplemade’’ politician. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi tied the saffron thread (Shivbandhan) to Urmila who at the outset made it clear that ‘’There was no pressure on me to join Shiv Sena. I am very proud to be a part of Shiv Sena's strong women's front. Even when I was in Congress, I did not expect a post. Now, also there is no expectation of a post. I want to work for the people and as a Shiv Sainik I will work in Shiv Sena.’’
Shiv Sena has already nominated Urmila for the legislative council under the Governor’s quota. "I am proud to be a part of Mumbai and work on women's and children's issues. If my MLC is accepted, I would like to work on women's and children's issues," she added.
‘’I am a Hindu by birth and religion. Hinduism is very tolerant. There is no hard or soft Hindutva. Hinduism is an all-encompassing religion. I also took up the subject of philosophy when I was in college. I would definitely like to talk about Hindutva, but I will not talk about it much today,’’ said Urmila.
Urmila did not name BJP but expressed concern over the toxic atmosphere in the politics. ‘’A very disgusting attempt was made to tarnish the image of Bollywood. I did not speak against anyone then, I do not speak now but I am speaking on behalf of Maharashtra,’’ she said.
Urmila recently hogged the limelight after she took on Kangana Renaut who likened Mumbai with Pakistan occupied Kashmir and criticised the city Police in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
She further said the word secular does not mean to hate other religions. ‘’At present there has been talk about religion and secularism. Are we not seeing as a human being first? Are we not going to think about our region and the country?’’ she asked.
She showered praise over the Shiv Sena led Maha Vikas Aghadi government for its one-year performance. ‘’ The Mahavikas Aghadi has done a very good job throughout the year. Whether it is the Corona crisis, the storm or any other calamity, I have always seen this government has performed well. The government has not given special treatment to people of any particular religion but has treated equally,’’ she viewed.
