News Tamil Nadu

Real-Life Villain Too? Prakash Raj Accused Of Encroaching Govt Land To Build Pvt Road To His Bungalow In Kodaikkanal, Villagers Allegedly Denied Road Access

August 22, 2023
The Commune

Actor Prakash Raj was in the news for his unsavoury post on the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon. While he claimed it to be a joke about the cliche joke about Malayalis opening a tea stall even on the moon, the joke certainly did not land well.

Even as the dust is yet to settle on this controversy, the actor finds himself mired in another controversy. The controversial actor who is known for his virtue-signaling against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again in the news for alleged illegal construction of his bungalow in the hill station of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu.

At a Farmer’s Grievance Meeting, various complaints of illegal construction in and around the villages of Kodaikanal became a point of discussion. Villagers have complained that Prakash Raj is illegally constructing luxury bungalows in violation of government norms and encroaching on government lands in villages around Kodaikanal. 

Apart from this, there is an allegation that Prakash Raj built a road for his private bungalow by encroaching on the common dirt road used by the villagers there. Villagers have complained that he encroached on forest department’s land and constructed his own road in the Pethuparai area. It is alleged that a board stating that it was not a public road prohibiting entry of public vehicles had been placed there. It is also said that the board was removed following a public uproar.

Speaking to Polimer News, one of the villagers said, “A public road has been converted to a cement road by actor Prakash Raj and has been prohibited for use by the villagers, he had put a board as well. The board was removed after we protested.”

Addressing the Farmers Grievance Meeting in Kodaikanal, farmers expressed their concerns regarding the lack of permission from the forest department and the district administration to use JCB machines for their agricultural activities. They also raised a pertinent question regarding why actor Prakash Raj had been granted permission to utilise heavy vehicles for the past 25 days.

Additionally, there have been allegations that the actor Bobby Simha was encroaching on government land and constructing a three-story luxury bungalow on it. Residents expressed their frustration and raised questions about how the forest department granted permission for such construction. They also called for measures to safeguard government-owned land.

Prakash Raj & Controversy – Always Go Hand In Hand

Prakash Raj has almost always found himself in a controversy for all the remarks he makes and the tweets he shares on social media. As mentioned above, he was recently in the news for his post on the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He faced significant social media backlash for a tweet related to India’s ambitious moon mission, Chandrayaan-3. In the tweet, Raj shared a cartoon depicting a man in traditional attire pouring tea, captioned, “First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander.” 

Many netizens accused him of making fun of India’s moon mission and suggested that his comments were driven by a strong dislike for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They also criticised him for seemingly mocking the hard work of the scientists involved in the mission. Netizens argued that Chandrayaan-3 is a source of national pride and not a subject to be used for expressing his political views. 

Following the backlash, Prakash Raj shared another tweet quoting the controversial one claiming that he was making a joke which haters could not see because of the hate filled in their hearts. A police complaint has been filed against Prakash Raj for this insensitive tweet.

This is not the first instance where Prakash Raj has critiqued or mocked Prime Minister Modi. Here are a few of the tweets and comments he made about PM Modi. 

On Being A Renowned Actor

At several events and interviews, he would keep harping about his acting skills and would complain that he found PM Modi to be acting and not showing his genuine emotions. Be it at an event or a recent interview with Sun TV, he has made the following comment:

“I am a renowned actor, I have won National Awards, do you (Modi) think I will not be able to detect when you are acting? At least show me some respect, considering the fact that I am an actor and I will be able to tell what is the truth and what is acting,”.

Comparing Modi To Hitler

Prakash Raj seemed to have made it his life mission to campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on social media ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections. During the run-up to the elections, when Prime Minister Modi visited Karnataka, he shared a meme comparing Modi with Adolf Hitler. The meme juxtaposed an old photograph of Adolf Hitler with children alongside an image of Modi with schoolchildren. It was captioned, “History repeats… Future is behind the barbed wire… BEWARE…”

Many netizens chastised him for making what they deemed a derogatory and insensitive analogy. 

He also shared a tweet comparing Modi with Hitler in a video captioned “RE INCARNATION…. who did this. #JustAsking”

Addressing Modi As “Station Master”

When Modi announced that he will be in Bhopal to flag off 5 Vande Bharat trains at Rani Kamalapati station, Prakash Raj tweeted saying, “A station master can do it. We really want to see you in Manipur sir ji.”

From then on he kept repeatedly addressing Modi as station master in all his tweets. 

It is noteworthy that Prakash Raj lost his deposit when he contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Bangalore Central constituency.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.