Congress targets Amitabh Bachchan again

Mumbai: The Mumbai police on Sunday morning served a notice on the Congress city unit chief Sanjay Nirupam to prevent any cognisable offence, a day after he announced that he would lead a morcha to meet Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan at his Juhu residence, to seek his support for the ongoing strike by the employees of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE). Mr Nirupam had intended to meet Bachchan with a delegation of around 200 FWICE workers.

According to sources in the Mumbai police department, the Congress leader was sent a notice under section 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that the notice prevents the commitment of any cognisable offence.

On Sunday, Mr Nirupam posted on his Twitter handle, saying, “Dozens policemen at my house. Why? Because I’m willing to take the striking film-TV workers to Mr Bachchan’s house to appeal to him to stop shooting and help them.”

The film workers on strike are demanding an eight-hour working shift and any overtime with double payment per hour, security of service, proper food facilities and other basic requirements.

The FWICE is pressing for signing a new agreement which includes provision for better and timely pay, job security, better working conditions, fixed working hours and insurance, after the earlier agreement lapsed after five years in February 2017.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Mr Nirupam has targeted the veteran actor. Earlier, when the Bollywood star appeared in a video by the union finance ministry to promote GST, he had urged him to withdraw from the campaign.

On being asked why he had especially chosen Mr Bachchan to support the ongoing stir, he said, “I was approached by the striking workers, who showed an interest in meeting Mr Bachchan, so that they could ask him to stop shooting for his TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati, till the workers are on strike. I had suggested that they approach Mr Bachchan on their own, but they insisted that I lead them.”

He, “Mr Bachchan did not like it and asked a higher authority in Delhi, which pressurised the Mumbai police. They sent a team of 100 policemen and stopped us from going there.”

 “The next plan of action is that the FWICE is going to approach the other working members of the association to stop their work on the sets of television shows. If the association does not stand up in unison, the strike will be of no use,” he said.

Mumbai police spokes-person Rashmi Karan-dikar, Deputy Commiss-ioner of Police (Opera-tions) said, “Mr Nirupam has not been house arrested as the rumour claims. He has only been issued a notice under CRPC 149.”