Opposition slams ransacking of Kamra's comedy act venue; Shiv Sena says spontaneous reaction

New Delhi: Opposition leaders on Monday slammed the alleged ransacking of the venue of stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra's show, where he took a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Shiv Sena leaders, however, justified the ransacking as a "spontaneous reaction" to alleged attempts by a political party to further its agenda in the name of comedy through its "paid agent".

The remarks by the opposition leaders came against the backdrop of Shiv Sena activists ransacking the Habitat Comedy Club at the Unicontinental Hotel in suburban Mumbai, where Kamra had referred to Shinde as a "traitor" during a performance recently.

Kamra used a modified version of a song from Hindi movie "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" to describe Shinde's 2022 rebellion against his then boss, Uddhav Thackeray.

"It is a shameless use of violence and taking law and order in your own hands while you are in the government because you have an objection to some comedy," Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said.

She said the same Kamra, before 2014, used to crack more severe jokes on former prime minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA government, and there was never any use of violence of any kind against him.

"It is a shameless attempt on Eknath Shinde's party's behalf to do what they have done -- trying to bully people, trying to intimidate people," Chaturvedi told reporters in the Parliament complex.

Shiv Sena leaders described Kamra as a "paid agent", who was trying to bail out a political party that is grappling with a case in the Bombay High Court about the death of a young girl.

"Mocking Eknath Shinde -- a self-made leader who rose from driving an autorickshaw to leading India's second-largest state -- reeks of classist arrogance. India is rejecting entitled monarchs and their bootlicking ecosystem that pretends to champion meritocracy and democracy," Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora said.

Shiv Sena leader Dhairyasheel Mane said the action by his party activists was a "spontaneous reaction" to the "abusive statements" made by Kamra against Shinde.

"Shiv Sainiks are very emotionally attached to its leadership and no Shiv Sainik will tolerate such nonsense targeted at its leadership. Whatever happened on Sunday was a spontaneous reaction," Mane said.

Congress member Manickam Tagore said it was unfortunate that jokes are making people angry and that such a trend is a reflection of growing intolerance.

"This is the new India under the rule of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi where even if a comedy show is held, then the venue will be vandalised with the support of the local police," he said.

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan said if there are restrictions on speaking, it would lead to a very bad situation.

"You would be told to speak just on this and nothing else.... Where is freedom of speech? There is freedom of action only when there is a ruckus -- beat up the opposition, rape women, kill them," she said.

Bachchan said Shinde left his old party and joined hands with another party due to the greed for power.

"Isn't that an insult to Balasaheb Thackeray?" she asked.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari termed the action of Shiv Sainiks "hooliganism".

"The Constitution gives us freedom of expression and if anybody has insulted someone, then you should investigate the matter," he said.