The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal on Wednesday wrote to the Election Commission against the release of a biopic movie which is purportedly based on Mamata Banerjee’s life.
In a letter to Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party State Vice President Joy Prakash Majumdar requested the Poll Commission of India and its representatives in West Bengal the Chief Electoral Officer to review the Biopic named ‘ Baghini’.
BJP writes to Election Commission alleging campaign by a Bangladeshi National Gaazi Noor for TMC MP candidate Sougata Roy in Dum Dum, West Bengal pic.twitter.com/lafWVD8rSH
— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2019
The Bharatiya Janata Party in the letter added that the Biopic should be reviewed on the same lines that were done by the Poll Commission in the case of another biopic depicting PM Narendra Modi.
The Biopic ‘Baghini’ is slated to be released on May 3 in the middle of the ongoing national elections 2019. The timing of the biopic has been in question and the issue is raised by many other Opposition parties.
While the director and producer of the film asserted that the film has no political motive and is only inspired by the life and struggles of West Bengal Chief Minister. Speaking to Zee News, scriptwriter and producer Pinky Pal said, ‘Shooting for the film was started way back in 2016. However, because of many edits and graphics, the film took longer and hence the release was delayed and is now set to be released on May 3.
Earlier on April 10, a day before Phase-I of voting, Election Commission stalled the release of PM Narendra Modi’s biopic. The Poll Body in a statement said that ‘any material disturbing the level playing field in favour of any political party or individual’ should not be released. So the Modi biopic will now release only after elections are over. The ban has been placed on the movie as it violates the Model Code of Conduct.
However, this is not the first time that Films/Biopics inspired on the life of a Politician have created a controversy. Earlier in the year, in a run-up to the national elections 2019, the movie based on Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh titled ‘Accidental Prime Minister’ created a political controversy with many terming it as anti-Congress propaganda to benefit BJP in the mega polls of 2019.
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