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Regular-article-logo Monday, 01 September 2025

Hema faces community ire

The Khandelwal community has rallied behind the family that lost its four-year-old daughter in the crash with the car Hema Malini was travelling in, asking the actress-MP to stop her "insensitive tweets" and demanding Rs 30 lakh as compensation.

Rakhee Roy Talukdar Published 11.07.15, 12:00 AM
Hema Malini

Jaipur July 10: The Khandelwal community has rallied behind the family that lost its four-year-old daughter in the crash with the car Hema Malini was travelling in, asking the actress-MP to stop her "insensitive tweets" and demanding Rs 30 lakh as compensation.

The Akhil Bharatiya Khandelwal Vaishya Mahasabha has said the aid could be given to the family by the MP or the BJP-run state government.

"Hema Malini is a mother herself. She should have more compassion. Hema is from the BJP, whose governments talk about Beti Bachao constantly and clicking selfies with daughters. But their own MP (Hema) left another daughter to die on the road. There has been no help from her till now. If she can't help, at least she should stop writing insensitive tweets," Mahasabha joint secretary Mahesh Kanungo said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call on his radio show Mann Ki Baat to "click selfies with daughters".

Hema in her tweets had blamed Harsh Khandelwal, the father of the four-year-old child who died, for the July 2 road crash at Dausa in Rajasthan. However, police have not said so far that he was at fault. Hema's driver was booked for speeding.

Harsh, his wife Shikha, their five-year-old son Somil, and sister-in-law Seema are in hospital since the accident.

The Mahasabha, which has handed the family Rs 1 lakh as immediate aid, said they were in dire need of assistance. "Harsh is the sole bread-winner and runs a small cycle shop but will now be laid up for three months. How will the family even buy medicines?" Kanungo asked.

He added that Harsh had not sought the assistance. "The Khandelwals are business professionals and have high self-esteem. They do not beg or ask for help. But in this case, the government and the MP should come forward to help on their own."

The Mahasabha warned it would hit the streets with dharnas and candle-light marches if no help was given. Rajasthan is home to 3.5 lakh members of the business community - nearly 45 per cent of all Khandelwals in the country - who account for around 1 per cent of the state's voters.

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