Kunal Kamra row: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says his deputy Eknath Shinde has been 'insulted'

CM Fadnavis speaks to the media on the Kunal Kamra controversy, in Mumbai on Monday. Pic/X

Reacting to the ongoing Kunal Kamra controversy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his deputy Eknath Shinde has been insulted and that the comedian must apologise.

"Kunal Kamra must issue an apology. His actions were an attempt to insult Eknath Shinde, and such behaviour cannot be tolerated. The people of Maharashtra have already made their decision on who is loyal and who is a traitor in the Assembly elections. Kamra has every right to pursue comedy and make jabs, but this was a deliberate insult towards a respected leader, and that will not be tolerated. Kamra may share photos of himself holding a pocket version of the Constitution, much like Rahul Gandhi, but he must understand that freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to insult others. Freedom of speech should always be used responsibly and in the right context," said Fadnavis, while speaking to reporters on Monday.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Member of Parliament (MP) Priyanka Chaturvedi has condemned the vandalism by Shinde Sena youth group members. She claimed that the party had "ignited a fire in Nagpur" and now they are trying to do the same in Mumbai, ANI reported.

"They ignited fire like this in Nagpur. They are now doing this in Mumbai. What kind of intolerance is this? If you don't like something, file a Police complaint but if there is such behaviour, I think people of Mumbai are watching, Maharashtra is watching how law and order is being taken into hand and they have stooped to hooliganism," Chaturvedi told ANI in Delhi.

Congress leader Nana Patole also criticised the state government over the vandalism and attributed the incident to the lack of law and order in Maharashtra. He also claimed that industries and people are leaving the state "out of fear."

The Congress leader's comments come amid the youth faction of the Shiv Sena, headed by Shinde, vandalised the Habitat comedy venue as they objected to Kamra's new comedy special uploaded on Youtube on the Deputy CM. The group had entered during a live standup show of comedian Rajat Sood.

The Habitat has also announced that they will be shutting down after the vandalism incident.

(With ANI inputs)