Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is visiting Mumbai on a day-long visit for a multiplicity of purposes. The most important among them being – taking film industry out of the maximum city, and setting its new base in Noida. Apart from leading the crusade of shifting India’s film industry centre from Mumbai to Noida, Yogi Adityanath will also be meeting top investors for Defence Corridor. Yogi Adityanath will also ring the bell at the Bombay Stock Exchange, as he visits BSE for the listing of Lucknow Municipal Corporation bonds.
Yesterday, the monk Chief Minister reached Mumbai late in the evening, and soon upon his arrival, met Akshay Kumar at the Oberoi hotel. This was among the first meetings on the schedule of the CM, who is looking to convince film industry stalwarts to shift base to Uttar Pradesh. Among the film personalities who will meet the UP CM during his Mumbai visit are, Subhash Ghai, Bonny Kapoor, Bhushan Kumar, Randeep Hooda, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jimmy Shergill, Taran Adarsh, Komal Nahta and Raj Kumar Santoshi.
The power flex by Yogi Adityanath in Mumbai has expectedly stirred up Uddhav Thackeray, as the Maharashtra Chief Minister watches helplessly India’s film industry shifting base to UP under his rule. It must be remembered that Yogi is not just in Mumbai to convince Bollywood stalwarts to join the campaign of federalising the country’s film industry. In fact, the UP-Chief Minister is also slated to meet a slew of industry leaders, seeking further investments in his state. A note by the UP Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner has said the Chief Minister will also meet the city’s UP Development Forum business leaders. The BJP govt in Uttar Pradesh has been pushing for more investment in the state’s micro, small, and medium enterprises sector.
This is definitely not going down well with Uddhav Thackeray and the MVA government in Maharashtra, who are passing off hysterical statements in response to the saffron-clad Chief Minister’s visit to ‘their territory’. Stating that nobody will be allowed to take away businesses from his state, Uddhav Thackeray said, “We are not jealous if someone progresses, we do not have any problem with someone’s progress if one competes. But if you are going to forcibly take anything away, then, of course, I won’t let it happen and you (industrialists) will not be willing to go.”
“Some people are coming today; they will also meet you all and ask you to come (for investments). But they do not know the magnetic strength (of Maharashtra), it is so powerful that forget people going from here to there, it should not so happen that somebody from there comes here,” the Maharashtra Chief Minister added.
Read more: One statement by Yogi Adityanath has set the Uddhav Government on fire
Uddhav Thackeray had earlier thrown a challenge of sorts at Yogi Adityanath, saying that if he wanted to take the film city to Uttar Pradesh, he could try and do so. Now that Yogi is working to the same effect, the Shiv Sena supremo is visibly getting worked up. “There are talks of taking Mumbai’s FilmCity to Uttar Pradesh…take it there…good…if you have capability surely take it there…however, in Maharashtra, we will ensure that what comes out is quality,” Thackeray had earlier said. Additionally, Thackeray had gone as far as saying that “moves to finish off the film industry or shift it elsewhere will never be tolerated.” This came in the backdrop of the UP government announcing that a mega film city would be developed in Noida.
Read more: Uddhav’s response to Yogi’s “Film City” remark is late, weak and stupid
By federalising the country’s film city and making Noida the new centre of ‘Bollywood’, the Yogi government is all set to snatch away the political patronage which many stars in Mumbai currently enjoy, and whose ties to the present establishment of Maharashtra are seemingly being exposed.