Udta Punjab: BJP denies AAP charge, says Punjab has no drug problem

New Delhi: Rejecting Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s charge that the censor board has stopped the release of film ‘Udta Punjab’ at its behest, the BJP said on Wednesday the AAP survives by creating such controversies and said Punjab has no drug problem, an issue the movie deals with.

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“I completely reject it (charge) that the government has any role or intervened to stop its release. AAP survives on controversies. It creates controversies for political purpose,” Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

Asked about the Central Board of Film Certification’s decision to withhold the film’s release unless certain scenes are cut, he parried the issue, saying there must be norms and guidelines as per which it would censor a movie.

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Asked whether he believed that Punjab suffered from drug problem, Rudy said: “I don’t think there is any problem.” He said the Akali Dal-BJP government in the state was doing an “excellent work”.

He also accused Aam Aadmi Party of having “double-standards” and referred to its stand on screening of ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’ whose maker Vivek Agnihotri is perceived to be close to BJP.

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Rudy said AAP’s spokespersons kept “quiet” when screening of the film was interrupted and stopped due to protests by student groups in Jadavpur University.

“(Censor Board chief) Pahlaj Nihlani’s statement makes it amply clear that he has stopped the film on BJP’s instructions,” Kejriwal tweeted earlier in the day.
The Censor Board’s objections to the Shahid Kapoor-Kareena Kapoor-starrer have stirred a political row.

Punjab is going to Assembly polls early next year and AAP, which has emerged as a strong player in the state, has made drug abuse a big issue and accused the Akali leadership of promoting the illicit drug trade.