The Government’s decision to host this year’s National Film Awards ceremony in Kevadia, Gujarat, has triggered a political controversy, with Maharashtra leader Raj Thackeray questioning the political motives behind the move.This is the first time in the 72-year history of the National Film Awards that the ceremony is being moved out of Delhi.Thackeray questioned why Mumbai or any of the major South Indian capitals was not chosen as the host city.“For the first time in the 72-year history of the National Film Awards, the ceremony is being moved away from the country’s capital, Delhi, and will be held in Kevadia, Gujarat. On the one hand, there is an ongoing effort to diminish the importance of the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, while on the other, an attempt is now being made to slowly erode the significance of the national capital,” Thackeray said.He also questioned the need to shift the ceremony from Delhi in the first place.“It seems that when you cannot create anything yourself, you resort to changing names and locations, and through that, an effort is being made to fabricate a misleading history. It has become clear that sooner or later, everything will boil down to Gujarat, and with that inevitability looming, there is an obsessive push by the two power holders at the Centre to at least manufacture some grandeur there,” said the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief.Thackeray said that even if the venue had to be shifted, the ceremony could have been brought to Mumbai.“Why not hold the awards ceremony in the state where Dadasaheb Phalke laid the foundation of Indian cinema? Or in any of the states where most of the country’s films are produced — Maharashtra or the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana? Why not hold the ceremony in one of them? In the South, cinema has even shaped politics. Why Gujarat specifically?” Thackeray asked.He said that many prime ministers had come and gone, but none had tried to forcibly inflate the importance of the state where they were born or built their political careers.“Here, the Commonwealth Games in Gujarat, the 2023 Cricket World Cup final in Gujarat, taking visiting heads of state to Gujarat, and moving GIFT City from Mumbai to Gujarat. Through all this, what are Narendra Modi and Amit Shah trying to show — that the cradle of this country’s progress has now been shifted to Gujarat? The country that stands today has been built through the sacrifices of countless generations and the contributions of every province in the nation.“These people remember the rest of the country only when elections are held in those states. Then they go there, don the local attire, deliver speeches, talk about their ‘old ties’ to the state, and that’s it — just enough to win votes. Is that all they know how to do?” Thackeray said, attacking BJP.He said artists must raise their voices against the move, arguing that the issue was not about Kevadia or any other city but about preserving the glorious tradition of hosting the awards in the national capital.“The Oscars are held in Los Angeles. Trump, Bush or Obama did not take the ceremony to their home states,” Thackeray said.