‘National awards should be held in Delhi’: Supriya Sule questions shift of Film Awards to Gujarat

NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule on Thursday said the National Film Awards ceremony should be held in New Delhi as it is the country’s capital, criticising the government’s decision to shift this year’s event to Gujarat.

The National Film Awards ceremony will be held at Kevadia in Gujarat on 22 September, with President Droupadi Murmu scheduled to present the honours. Kevadia, officially renamed Ekta Nagar, is home to the Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Sule said the awards should remain in Delhi because they are a national-level event.

“For the first time in the 72-year history of the country, the National Awards are being held in Gujarat. Our view is that national awards should always be presented in Delhi. Things that are at the national level should remain at the national level,” she said.

“When major programmes are held in Delhi, they should be held in Delhi itself. That is why they are called national programmes, because Delhi is the national capital of the country. If it is a national programme, it should be held in the national capital. How can it be held somewhere else?” the Baramati MP said.

Sule also alleged that the increasing number of major events being held in Gujarat could be an attempt to reduce the importance of Delhi and Mumbai.

She cited Cricket World Cup matches and visits by foreign heads of state among events that, according to her, were increasingly being held in Gujarat.

“This could be an attempt to reduce the importance of Delhi and Mumbai. The possibility cannot be ruled out,” she said.

On language debate

Sule also weighed in on the language issue, saying both Marathi and Hindi were important and that people should be free to learn as many languages as they wanted.

“Marathi and Hindi are both our languages and people should know both. Learning more languages is a good thing. But no language should be imposed on anyone. If someone wants to learn Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil or Telugu, it is a good thing,” she said.

Praises Gadkari over Mumbai-Goa highway

Reacting to Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s recent remarks that he felt ashamed that the Mumbai-Goa highway had still not been completed and would not attend its inauguration, Sule described the statement as a sign of his sensitivity as a leader.

“This is the greatness of Gadkari saheb. He is saying this as a sensitive leader of Maharashtra and the country. We respect his sentiments. His statement came from the heart because he works from the heart,” she said.

Seeks farm loan waiver

Sule also raised the issue of the drought-like situation and farmer suicides in Maharashtra and appealed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to visit affected areas and prepare a report.

She recalled the farm loan waiver announced during the UPA government, saying the then government had announced a Rs 70,000 crore waiver when Manmohan Singh was prime minister and Sharad Pawar was agriculture minister.

“When the NCP-Congress government was in power, under the leadership of Manmohan Singh and when Pawar saheb was the agriculture minister, a Rs 70,000 crore farm loan waiver was announced. Manmohan Singh himself came to Maharashtra and there was a major change,” she said.

Sule urged Fadnavis to seek a complete farm loan waiver from the Centre for affected farmers.