It’s no secret that veteran actor Anupam Kher is a passionate supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and very outspoken on social media. Recently, he faced criticism over a tweet in which he made a sly remark about the appeal by over 600 film and theatre artistes urging people not to vote for the BJP.
Anupam commented that some people from the film industry were "officially campaigning" for opposition parties by releasing the appeal letter for the public.
This didn't go down well with netizens, including fellow actors Swara Bhasker and Soni Razdan who reminded him of the concept of "democracy".
"Some people from my fraternity have issued a letter for public to vote out the present government in elections. In other words, they are officially campaigning for opposition parties. Good! At least there are no pretensions here. Great," he wrote.
The comment was aimed at the letter by artists including Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah and Konkona Sen Sharma. They had made a joint appeal to people to "help safeguard the Constitution and our syncretic, secular ethos" by not voting for the BJP.
Reacting to Anupam's tweet, Swara wrote: "Yes, it's called democracy sir."
Anupam replied: "Agreed! As long as it is not confused with intolerance when others use it."
No Fathers In Kashmir actor Soni Razdan stepped in the debate, and replied, "If you can align yourself to the present government, why would you think others doing the same is any different? Just curious."
Anupam then clarified saying he was just making an "observation".
Unlike Anupam, several celebrities hailed the artistes' appeal to people to vote out the government in the elections.
Fukrey star Richa Chadha wrote: "I applaud the artistes fraternity for taking a stand, rejecting the politics of hate.
" I applaud the artists fraternity for taking a stand, rejecting the politics of hate.I also understand the motivations of people seeking the destruction of the nation’s social,moral fabric for temporary gains like cash for tweets,laal batti perks etc. It IS an uncertain industry "
“It is every citizen’s right to use their voice and vote. Don’t grudge those who actually believe in the ideology, they’ll see light or self-destruct, but opportunists are easy to spot. Vote consciously, correctly,using your head. #UngliDikhao ,vote, get inked and make it count,” she added.
(Inputs: IANS)
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