Now, UP govt grants Rs 1 crore aid to Madhuri Dixit’s 'Dedh Ishqiya'

Lucknow/New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government is at the receiving end of harsh criticism for hosting Saifai Mahostsav while Muzaffarnagar riot victims reportedly are suffering under adverse weather conditions and children dying in the relief camps.

But that does not stop CM Akhilesh Yadav from splurging more for Bollywood.

The Samajwadi Party government has given Rs one crore aid to Madhuri Dixit-starrer ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ and Saif Ali Khan's ‘Bullet Raja’ in a bid to attract producers to shoot their films in the state.

The announcement in this regard was made by Film Bandhu at a meeting here and the same was announced by the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at Saifai Mahotsav on Wednesday.

Read here: Poor kids die; Akhilesh, Mulayam have fun

As per the decision of Film Bandhu, the state government would give a grant of 25 per cent of the total cost of the film or Rs one crore, whichever is less, to those Hindi films whose 75 per cent shooting was done in UP, an official of Film Bandhu said here.

As both the films were shot in UP, Rs one crore aid would be given to them.

While 'Dedh Ishqiya', releasing on Friday, is shot at Mehmoodabad in Sitapur district, shooting of 'Bullett Raja' was done in Lucknow.

The Film Bandhu will also give financial assistance to Bhojpuri and Awadhi films in future too, its officials said.

Meanwhile, Congress and BJP slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for holding celebrations at party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's native village of Saifai.

"The media has highlighted how, when the relief camps are still in want of a lot of help and people struggle in the extreme cold, you find that the ruling party of UP... is holding celebrations for two-three days in the native village of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She demanded that SP speak up on the issue.

Congress, meanwhile, charged that SP was lacking in sensitivity.

"SP has got its own way of working and sensitivity, of course, is missing in this case. Had the UP government been vigilant, these riots would not have taken place. At this time, they are having these Bollywood shows at Saifai for a long time and probably they feel it is a great event for them," said Congress General Secretary, Digvijaya Singh.

Next: Foreign tour, Saifai fest: SP govt defends itself

Foreign tour, Saifai fest: SP govt defends itself

Lucknow: Under attack from opposition parties for arranging foreign tour of Ministers and cultural festival when Muzaffarnagar riot victims were suffering in relief camps, SP government on Thursday defended itself saying political parties were resorting to 'negative opposition' to defame it.

"The political parties have resorted to negative opposition of the SP government, which has fulfilled almost all its promises made in election manifesto. Our policies and schemes are being followed by others states," SP spokesman and Cabinet minister Rajendra Chowdhury said.

Defending foreign tour of eight ministers, Chowdhury said there was a tradition of such tours through which Parliamentary functioning of other countries was understood and better ties between two countries established.

"The SP government has not done anything new," he said.

On the cultural festival in SP supremo's native village Saifai, which ended Wednesday night with performances by Bollywood actors, Chowdhury said opposition parties were unnecessarily making hue and cry over the event, through which folk arts and local talent is promoted.

"The Mahostava has proved as a platform to promote youth power. Persons excelling in different fields were honoured during the event..Ignoring all the programmes and only highlighting performances of Bollywood stars at Saifai shows biased attitude towards SP," Chowdhury said.

He said as far as Muzaffarnagar riots were concerned, the state government had done whatever was possible and distributed Rs 90 crore among the victims.

Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh had criticised the SP government for sending the ministers on foreign junket, saying it was busy in 'fun and frolic' at a time when people were dying of cold in the state and Muzaffarnagar riot victims were suffering.

BJP Chief Spokesman Vijay BahadurPathak had alleged that state ministers were interested in having 'fun' instead of public service.