MATHURA: Hours after violent clashes ripped through Mathura, the constituency of parliamentarian Hema Malini, the actor-politician from the BJP tweeted photos of a film shoot at Madh Island in Mumbai, drawing sharp criticism online.

Hema Malini, 67, deleted the photos and then left Mumbai for Mathura, but seemed nonplussed by accusations of both insensitivity and deep negligence of her constituency in its hour of need. “What do I have to do (with it),” she asked in Delhi en route to Mathura, 160 kilometres away. “Our people are there, Akhilsh Yadav’s government has to handle this,” she said.

“How do I know this is going to happen? I went for a shoot,” she said. The clashes between cult members squatting in a 260-acre park in Mathura and policemen who tried to evict them last evening have left 24 dead.
The Lok Sabha MP from Mathura appeared to have missed the news of the searing violence as well as the urgent requirement to rush there. “I am an artiste, I committed myself to do some shooting,” she said of her delayed journey to her constituency.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said her “tweets are OK” and added “let us not divert from main issue”.A year ago, the politician energized accusations of insensitivity after her Mercedes collided with a car in Rajasthan, and a child was killed.
At the time, she was on her way from Mathura to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Tweets by her appeared to blame the child’s father even as the police said her Mercedes had been speeding.

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