Brushing aside the criticisms on filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma being part of his entourage to the terror-hit Taj hotel and other sites, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday said there was "no bad intention in it".
Asked what the filmmaker was doing at the site of a terror attack when most people were not allowed inside, Deshmukh said, "There was no bad intention in it. Many people come to such places. The television footage of the visit was provided by the government."
Deshmukh also said there was nothing wrong in his actor son Riteish accompanying him to the sites of the terror attacks. "If my son is with me what is wrong in that? It was a big incident and he wanted to see it," Deshmukh said.
The actor and the director were seen in the entourage which accompanied the Chief Minister when he visited the Taj, the Oberoi and the Nariman House in south Mumbai.
"If people speak right thing then the media does not show it. However, I have complete respect for the opinion of all people of the state as it is a democracy and they are entitled to it," Deshmukh added.
