Union minister Ramdas Athawale who met Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been at the centre of a controversy over her remarks on Mumbai and its police, and whose bungalow in Mumbai faced BMC action for "illegal" alterations, said the BJP or his party Republican Party of India (A) (RPI) will welcome the actor if she ever decides to join politics. RPI is a BJP ally.
However, Athawale clarified that the actor has no intention to join politics for now. “As long as Kangana is working in films, she has no intention of joining politics, but if she joins BJP or RPI, we will welcome her,” Hindustan Times quoted the minister as saying.
The minister, however, had earlier said his party did not agree with the remarks made by Ranaut, who likened Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
After meeting the actor, the minister told reporters that he told her that she has nothing to fear her in Mumbai and added that his party is with her.
"She told me she felt insulted. Her office that she got constructed in January has been damaged. She said she didn't know about 2-3 inches extra constructed by the builder. The BMC should have demolished that part but it damaged the inside walls and furniture," NDTV quoted Athawale as saying.
On Wednesday morning, the Shiv Sena-controlled BMC had razed "illegal" changes made in her bungalow in suburban Bandra.
