Kunal Kamra row: BMC begins demolition of venue where comedian made jokes on Eknath Shinde

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers began demolition work at Mumbai's Habitat Studio on Monday, following recent remarks by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra targeting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The BMC cited rule violations as the reason for the action, although specific details were not provided at the time of reporting. 

The venue, located in the Unicontinental Hotel in Khar, saw the presence of several civic body officials entering with hammers.

The controversy began after Kamra shared a clip from his show, where he parodied a popular Hindi song to comment on Shinde's 2022 rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray. The spoof, referring to "a leader from Thane," made remarks about Shinde's appearance and his relationship with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, although Shinde was not named directly.

The video led to outrage, particularly among leaders from the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), who vandalised the studio and hotel on Sunday, claiming the video was shot there.

Following the incident, 11 Shiv Sena workers, including Rahul Kanal, were arrested for their involvement in the vandalism. In response to the situation, Kamra posted a brief message on social media platform X, accompanied by a photo of himself holding a small copy of the Constitution, stating, "The only way forward."

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, responding to the row, insisted that the comedian should apologise and that "legal action will be taken according to the law". "Eknath Shinde ji has been insulted, and an attempt has been made to do so. This will not be tolerated," said Fadnavis.

He said that the 2024 elections proved who the “traitors” are and that no stand-up comedian has the right to call such a big leader a traitor. “There is a right to comedy, one can make humour on us, but making derogatory statements cannot be accepted. If it is being done to defame our Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde purposely, it is not right,” he said.