The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena headed by Raj Thackeray has demanded the immediate ouster of Prasoon Joshi as the head of Central Board of Film Certification, also known as the Censor Board for his questionable decision on the film made on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party has expressed its outrage on the preferential treatment given to the makers of the film, PM Narendra Modi.
Amey Khopkar, President of Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, according to news agency PTI, said that Joshi went out of his way to issue a certification to the controversial film.
“As per the rule, the producers have to submit the final copy of the film to the censor board 58 days prior to the date of the exhibition. So why was special treatment given to the biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?” Khopkar was quoted by PTI.
The film has Vivek Oberoi playing the role of Modi. The controversial film, which has come under scathing criticism from the opposition parties, who say that the release of the film ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was aimed at giving undue advantage to the BJP.
The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have approached the Election Commission to stop its release arguing that this was a propaganda exercise by the saffron party. Although, Oberoi has denied links with the BJP, he has often campaigned for the party in the past. In his recent interviews, Oberoi, whose father Suresh Oberoi is one of the producers of the film, had confessed to being a big fan of Modi.
During his interview with a channel recently, Oberoi had also mocked Congress President Rahul Gandhi by taking a dig at the latter’s Thailand visits.
India goes to polls in seven phases with the counting scheduled for 23 May.
