Ram Gopal Varma in the soup over controversial tweet on Droupadi Murmu; Telangana BJP leaders files complaint

Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma later clarified that his Twitter post was “not at all intended to hurt the sentiments of anyone".

TN National Desk

Updated Jun 25, 2022, 05:36 IST

Ram Gopal Varma (L) and Gudur Narayana Reddy (R)

Photo : ANI

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Gudur Narayana Reddy alleged that Ram Gopal Varma disrespected the SC and ST community
BJP MLA T Raja Singh is also annoyed with Ram Gopal Varma about his comment
"Varma always tries to be in the news by making such controversial comments," said Raja Singh

Hyderabad: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has registered a complaint in Hyderabad against Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma for his controversial remarks on National Democratic Alliance (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

"If DRAUPADI is the PRESIDENT who are the PANDAVAS? And more importantly, who are the KAURAVAS?" Varma had tweeted.

Gudur Narayana Reddy, the leader of the Telangana BJP, then filed a complaint against the director at the Abid Road Police Station, alleging that he had disrespected the SC and ST community.

"This tweet is tantamount to disrespecting the SC and ST people. Here, he calls 'Draupadi' the President. We would have had no objections if he had only mentioned Draupadi, Pandavas and Kauravas. We, the BJP workers, are hurt at such comments by RGV," Reddy told news agency ANI.

The BJP leader said a case should be registered under the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Reddy added that the former governor of Jharkhand "has been nominated by the NDA government, and by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi ji".

The BJP leader expressed his anger at Ram Gopal Varma's statements, saying, "Here in this case, the police have promised us that they will take stern action against RGV, and after which, I don't think he will again tweet or make such a nasty statement against anyone."

Along with the complaint, the BJP leader provided the police with the tweet as evidence.

Ram Gopal Varma however clarified his intention with regard to the tweet, claiming that it was made in 'earnest irony' and not intended to 'hurt sentiments of anyone'.

Adding to his previous controversial tweet, he wrote, "This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way ..Draupadi in Mahabharata is my favourite character but Since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone."

Ram Gopal Varma's comments have also angered BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who said the director posts such tweets in a 'drunken state'.

"Varma always tries to be in the news by making such controversial comments," he added.

It is not the first time Ram Gopal Varma has been involved in controversies on social media.

In April, Ram Gopal Varma jumped into a Twitter fight between Ajay Devgn and Kichcha Sudeep over 'Hindi being the national language', saying that "north stars are insecure and jealous of south stars".

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