Gandhinagar: Around 15 Gujarati film artists, including Siddharth Randeriya, Hiten Kumar, Malhar Thakar and Pooja Joshi, Hitu Kanodiya, Mona Thiba, Mamata Soni, Mitra Gadhvi, Denisha Ghumra, Bhavya Gandhi, Mayur Chauhan, Janaki Bodiwala, Monal Gajjar, Yash Soni visited the Gujarat Assembly today on the invitation of the Speaker. More artists associated with the Gujarati film industry are expected to visit the state Assembly tomorrow. The Speaker offered shawl to actors, had lunch with actors and also interacted with the invited actors.

Amid the ongoing budget session, invitations have been sent to over 1,000 artists, including actors and actresses from across the state, to visit the Assembly, according to former MLA, film actor, and BJP leader Hitu Kanodia. He mentioned that the first invitation was sent to Vikram Thakor, who had earlier alleged bias when only folk ‘Dayra’ artists and singers were invited to the Assembly. In response, Assembly Speaker Shankarbhai Chaudhary clarified that only folk and Dayra artists were invited on that occasion and that Vikram Thakor would be invited when other film artists were called.

Thakor, who falls under the ‘actors’ category, is reportedly upset and has not confirmed his attendance. He also played the caste card, claiming he was excluded from the previous group because he belongs to the Thakor community. Following this, Thakor faced criticism, with people asserting that artists do not have a caste. Now, it remains to be seen whether he will visit the Assembly tomorrow.

The responsibility for organizing this program has been assigned to BJP Cultural Cell in-charge Janak Thakkar and former MLA Hitu Kanodia, under the supervision of Tourism and Cultural Activities Minister Mulubhai Bera. DeshGujarat