Mumbai, June 6: Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday wooed Bollywood glamour and India Inc., as part of the party's new initiative "Sampark for Samarthan" in the run-up to the ensuing 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Soon after his arrival here, he called on former Bollywood actresss Madhuri Dixit-Nene and her doctor-husband Sriram Nene and later the former Tata Group Chairman and philanthropist Ratan Tata.
Shah was accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and State BJP President Raosaheb Patil-Danve in his visits.
However, a scheduled meeting with Lata Mangeshkar was cancelled at the last minutes since she was indisposed.
"I was to meet Amit Shah ji but since I am down because of food poisoning I spoke to him over phone and told him that next time when he comes to Mumbai, I would meet him," tweeted Lata Didi, as she is popularly known.
Shah apprised the celebrities of the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team in the last four years, the NDA government's achievements and their vision for India.
"As always, it was inspiring to meet Shri Ratan Tata ji with Mananiya AmitShah ji as a part of BJP4India aSampark For Samarthan' Abhiyan! We also presented him a book on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on auspicious Shivrajyabhishek din ! RNTata2000 SamparkForSamarthan," Fadnavis later tweeted.
In another tweet, he noted: "Met Smt MadhuriDixit Nene, Dr. Nene and family with Mananiya AmitShah ji as a part of aSampark For Samarthan', an initiative to meet dignitaries to share the historic decisions and achievements of Hon PM @narendramodi ji's GovernmentAin 4 yearsA! SamparkForSamarthan".
Later this evening, Shah is likely to call on sulking ally Shiv Sena's President Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence in Bandra.
As part of the "Sampark for Samarthan", Shah has so far met former Indian Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag (retd), scholar and former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash Kashyap and former Team Indian skipper and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, retired Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti, and yoga guru Baba Ramdev.
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Hyderabad, Dec 22: Top Telugu actor Allu Arjun did not leave the theatre during the screening of 'Pushpa-2' on December 4 despite being told to do so in view of a stampede in which a woman died, police officials claimed on on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference on the annual round-up of 2024, city police commissioner C V Anand showed a video, made by police, on the situation that prevailed when the stampede occurred.
The video was made by collating footage, including from news channels and cell phone clips. It suggests the actor remained in the theatre till the midnight.
Anand did not make any comment on the video, but said the media can draw its own conclusions.
A police official talked about the sequence of events on the fateful night of December 4.
He said that he and other police officials informed a manager of Allu Arjun about the death of the woman and told him that the situation was out of control. He indicated that they were not allowed to meet the actor.
Allu Arjun's staff members told them that they would convey the matter to the actor but did not do so, he said.
The official said he later managed to reach the actor, told him about the woman's death and asked him to leave the theatre so that the fans don't harm each other while trying to catch a glimpse of him.
The official also told the actor that security arrangements would be made for his exit.
However, the actor said he would go only after watching the film, the police official said.
Later, accompanied by a senior officer, the official went inside and brought the actor out, he said.
Amid allegations that bouncers hired by Allu Arjun pushed crowds as well as policemen when the stampede occurred at the cinema hall, the police commissioner warned that stringent action as per law would be taken if THE bouncers indeed misbehaved with the police on duty.
The VIPs would be made responsible for the behaviour of the bouncers hired by them, he said.
Asked if the police would appeal against the interim bail granted to Allu Arjun, the commissioner refused to give a direct response, just saying it is part of the investigation.
What course of action is taken would be known in the days to come, he said.
He also declined to comment when asked if the family of the deceased told him about Allu Arjun's team or film production team allegedly threatening them not to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, state Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy found fault with Allu Arjun responding on Saturday to the debate in the Legislative Assembly.
The minister, who observed that the actor should have respect for the government and the chief minister, demanded an apology from Allu Arjun to the government and the CM.
"This government is never vindictive. As Cinematography Minister, we allowed benefit shows and hiking ticket prices to promote the film industry," he said.
However, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar found fault with CM Revanth Reddy for his comments on Allu Arjun in the Assembly on Saturday.
The comments of the CM sounded like character assassination of Allu Arjun and hurting the Telugu film industry, he alleged in a statement.
Later in the day, Sanjay Kumar visited a boy who is undergoing treatment in a hospital after being injured in the stampede.
"Consoled his father over the heartbreaking loss of his wife, Revathi. I pray to god that Sritej recovers at the earliest. Assured support to the family in this difficult time," Kumar said on X.
Earlier in the day, state DGP Jitender told reporters in Karimnagar district that film personalities and all others should understand that safety and security of citizens is utmost important, and also conduct themselves accordingly.