Despite the mammoth task undertaken by actor Sonu Sood to facilitate the journey of 12,000 stranded migrant workers in Mumbai to their native villages, the ruling Shiv Sena has now attacked him in a stinging editorial in the party mouthpiece, Saamna. Alleging a larger political conspiracy behind his efforts, the article questioned how Sood became a ‘Mahatma’ in such a short time.
Shiv Sena leader and the author of the said editorial, Sanjay Raut, has suggested that it was not possible for the actor to facilitate the transportation of such a large number of people without political support. Casting aspersions about Sood’s credibility, the article mentioned how he had met the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who had often been at loggerheads with the incumbent State government. Koshyari had also praised him for his work when the two met at the Raj Bhavan on May 31.
“It is being said that Sonu Sood transported millions of migrant labourers to their home in other states,” Raut remarked. Hitting out at the Bollywood actor, Shiv Sena accused him of overshadowing the work done by the State Government. In the scathing tirade, Raut enquired as to how Sood procured buses during the lockdown. “When the states are not allowing to take any migrant workers, where are the migrants going?” he questioned. While suggesting that Sonu Sood is hand-in-gloves with the BJP, Sanjay Raut stated that he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon and assume the charge of being the celebrity manager of Mumbai.
“Sonu Sood is a good actor. There is a different director for movies, the work he has done is good but there is a possibility that there is a political director behind it,” Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying. Amidst rumours that the actor would join BJP, Sood told Gulf News that he was doing extremely well in his career as an actor and was not interested in politics. Reportedly, he had received several offers to join politics but had turned all of them down.
#Breaking | @ShivSena slams actor @SonuSood and criticises his move over migrants’ movement.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 7, 2020
Aruneel with more details. pic.twitter.com/v9iLfwIOtL
Congress supporters peddle conspiracy theories about Sonu Sood
Following his meeting with the Governor Koshyari, Sood was attacked by Congress supporters who rushed to float conspiracy theory that he was actually a BJP agent. They alleged that Sood was doing the good work to deliberately make the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena government look bad. He was also compared with Anna Hazare, who started the India Against Corruption movement which eventually led to the creation of the Aam Aadmi Party. Sonu Sood was also made out to be a villain because he was praised by Union Minister and how other BJP leaders reached out to him and helped him with his work.
