PM Narendra Modi biopic violating Election Commission rules?

Vivek Oberoi's look from the film

Last week, the National Students' Union of India - Goa, the Congress party's student wing, urged the Election Commission to ban the release of PM Narendra Modi, alleging that the biopic is a propaganda film by the BJP to influence voters during the Lok Sabha elections. The Vivek Oberoi-starrer is scheduled to release on April 12, a day after the polling begins in seven phases.

Sandip Ssingh

A former Election Commissioner, on the condition of anonymity, indicates that the film's release coinciding with the general elections is an indirect violation of the model code of conduct. "You can't ban the film because it is not made by a political party. However, it is openly endorsed by the party members, including Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Amit Shah, who was scheduled to attend the film's event yesterday. So they are associated with it indirectly."

Producer Sandip Ssingh defends, "The movie is not funded by BJP or any other party, so it's not a propaganda film. We live in a democracy, so we reserve the right to decide our film's release date. Also, when I made Mary Kom, I got sports personalities to endorse it. Since we are making a film on the sitting PM, we are requesting people who admire him to come as chief guests."

Also Read: Paresh Rawal on competing with Vivek Oberoi: No one can play Narendra Modi better than me

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