Shobhaa De faces Sena ire after tweets against Marathi diktat

Mumbai: The announcement on mandatory screening of Marathi film in Maharashtra’s multiplexes and at prime time has not gone down too well with some people, including celebrity writer Shobhaa De, who voiced her displeasure on Twitter. This led to the Shiv Sena moving a privilege motion notice against her in Assembly on Wednesday for hurting the feelings of Marathi-speaking people.

The announcement regarding mandatory screening of Marathi films in multiplexes and theatres Maharashtra at prime time has not gone down too well with some sections of society, including celebrity writer Shobhaa De, who voiced her displeasure on Twitter.

This led to the Shiv Sena moving a privilege motion notice against her in the Assembly on Wednesday for hurting the feelings of Marathi-speaking people. But Speaker Haribhau Bagade has reserved his decision on the notice.

The Mumbai police, taking no chances, has deployed security at her residence.

Ms De, reacting to the Sena’s move, later said she was proud to be a Maharashtrian and loved Marathi films, but when contacted by this newspaper, refused to comment.

State minister Vinod Tawde had said on Tuesday that the screening of Marathi films at prime time would be made mandatory. Reacting sharply to this, Ms De termed it dadagiri (high-handedness) and said CM was a “diktatwala”. She had also tweeted that “popcorn will be replaced with dahi misal and vada pav in multiplexes”.

Following her tweets, Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik moved a breach of privilege notice and demanded action against her.