Balasaheb Did Not Discriminate Against Bihar, UP Migrants: Raut

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut says Bal Thackeray wasn’t discriminating towards migrants while promoting his film.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanjay Raut and Amrita Rao during promotions of the film Thackeray in Lucknow.

Politician Sanjay Raut, who has penned the story for a biopic on Balasaheb Thackeray, on Tuesday said the late Shiv Sena supremo was never discriminatory towards migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Maharashtra.

"In Balasaheb's life and in Shiv Sena's journey so far, not even a single issue of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh happened. There are many perceptions against Balasaheb that he was racist against the people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who were settled in Maharashtra during his political career, but the reality is different," Raut said here while promoting the forthcoming film Thackeray.

“People were emotionally attached to Balasaheb. A lot of land (property) and unemployment issues were going on in Maharashtra during 1969s, so he just favoured local people more at that time. It does not mean he was discriminatory against the migrants. All people were close to him,” he added.

Raut, who is also one of the producers of the film, said there is no fiction in Thackeray. "Balasaheb's life has been an open book. He never tried to hide anything from his life. So, in this film we have tried to present all the facts in true and authentic manner. There is no fiction in the story. Everything is real," he added.

Starring actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Balasaheb and Amrita Rao as his wife Meenatai, Thackeray is scheduled to release on Friday. It is directed by Abhijt Panse.