AHMEDABAD: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel Saturday termed the upcoming movie, "The Accidental Prime Minister", as "nothing more than a gimmick" and alleged that the ruling BJP was "misusing" its money for such a film.
The film is based on the book of the same name by Sanjaya Baru, who served as then prime minister Manmohan Singh's media adviser from 2004 to 2008. Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, the film stars Anupam Kher as Singh and Akshaye Khanna as Baru and is scheduled to release in theatres on January 11.
"It is nothing more than a gimmick. The BJP has a lot of money. It is busy ensuring how to misuse it or use it for a gimmick (like this). Let them do whatever they want to do. Such films come and go, are made and unmade. All these things keep happening. We do not want to comment on that," Patel told reporters.
The trailer of the film was released in Mumbai on Thursday and depicts Singh as a victim of the Congress's internal politics ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier, sharing the trailer on its official Twitter handle, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had said the film was a "riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years".
Speaking about Gujarat politics, Patel refuted reports of dissatisfaction among Congress leaders and claimed that the opposition party would win more than 15 of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 polls.
"I have no such information regarding a meeting (of disgruntled state Congress leaders). A meeting is not a new thing. We will fight the (2019) election together and get more than 15 (Lok Sabha) seats," he said.
Patel is in Gujarat to take part in the "Jan Adhikar Mahasabha" being organised jointly by the Congress committees of Arvalli and Sabarkantha districts.
Senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry and the party's Gujarat in-charge, Rajiv Satav, are also participating in the rally.