Indu Sarkar row: Congress leader asks Maharashtra CM to intervene

Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Saturday said the party workers may “hit the streets” if the upcoming Bollywood film “Indu Sarkar”, set in the Emergency period, is found to be maligning its leaders.

“We have sought chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ intervention over the release of the film as there is talk that history has been distorted. The film is based on the lives of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi,” the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly said here.

“If our apprehension that history has been distorted is found to be true, it will hurt people’s sentiments. If an attempt has been made to malign the image of Congress leaders, party workers may hit the streets in protest,” he added.

The CM should intervene to prevent untoward incidents and maintain law and order, Vikhe-Patil said.

“Indu Sarkar”, directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, is slated to release on July 28.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had written to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) recently, expressing concern about portrayal Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and other Congress leaders in the film.

There should be a screening of the film for Congress leaders ahead of its release, Nirupam had demanded.

Bhandarkar however refused to screen the film for anybody before the censor cleared it, and stated that it doesn’t talk about any individual leader but uses the Emergency—imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led government in 1975 -- as the backdrop.

Read | Will not screen Indu Sarkar for Congress or any political party: Madhur Bhandarkar