Thackeray, while addressing party workers at a rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, he said: "Sridevi was a great actor, but what did she do for the country that her body was wrapped in the tricolour?"
He alleged that the media was under tremendous pressure from the BJP-led government. The media covered her funeral extensively at the government's behest to divert the people's attention from the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank scam.
The actress, 54, died in Dubai, where she had gone to attend the wedding ceremony of his nephew. It was established that the actress died of “accidental drowning” in her hotel.