Even if not nominated to Council, I will work for people of Maharashtra, says Urmila Matondkar

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondakar, who recently joined Shiv Sena said that with or without the tag of legislator she will continue to work for the people

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondakar, who recently joined Shiv Sena said that with or without the tag of legislator she will continue to work for the people of the state. She has been named by the party for her nomination to the legislative council from the Governor quota.

Urmila Matondkar. (HT Photo)

“I never wanted to be an MP (member of Parliament), even when I joined the Congress in March, last year. I would have campaigned for the party at the national level, but the party leadership insisted that I contest the Lok Sabha election. I always wanted to work for the people and the broader janhit (welfare). I would like to be people’s neta like I was perceived as ‘people’s actress’. My name has been nominated to Council by my party, but I never joined the party to become a legislator. I always wanted to work for the people and will continue to do so, even if I was not sent to the Council,” said the actress during the conversation with a select group of journalists at Sena Bhavan.

Matondkar is among 12 people recommended by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the nomination to the Council. The proposal is waiting for Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s nod for last more than one and half a month. The uncertainty still hovers over the nominations of the names recommended by the MVA government.

Matondkar said that she was not upset with the Congress and she still shares good relations with party leaders like Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at the national level and Balasaheb Thorat at the state level. “I was offered the Council seat by Congress too, but I had already quit Congress. I had a problem with second rung leadership in the party. I was contacted by honourable chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and told that I was needed in the Council for the betterment of cultural and social field in the state. It appealed me the most and I decided to join the party,” she said.

Matondkar said that Shiv Sena’s Hindutva is ‘inclusive’ and does not believe in diving people in the names of religion.