CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: Udta Punjab gave the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the unkindest cut of all, when the social media revealed that its producer and Balaji Telefilms CEO Sameer Nair was a senior member of the communication wing. AAP is making a serious bid for power in Punjab at a time when allegations of drug smuggling by SAD-BJP politicians are rampant.
The ruling coalition in Punjab has charged AAP with a conflict of interest and impropriety in the Udta Punjab row. “There is conclusive evidence that an active AAP member had a major role in the production of Udta Punjab,” SAD spokesperson and Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said. He demanded AAP come clean on the issue. “You (AAP) have held press conferences recently to claim you were speaking in favour of the producers of Udta Punjab to safeguard freedom of expression. Whose freedom of expression were you guarding?”
AAP retorted: “Sameer Nair is not an AAP member. He joined AAP in 2013, but resigned after a few months with Captain G R Gopinath. Nair has nothing to do with AAP for the last two years,” AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said. He added that the movie is about “drug problems in Punjab” and this controversy is an attack on freedom of expression.
SAD has asked Nair to come clean on his political affiliation and sought a copy of the disclosure he made before joining Balaji Telefilms as its CEO. Nair’s revelation has also given BJP a breather. “The link is crystal clear now. Neither the Punjab government nor SAD nor BJP wrote to the Censor Board. We are being wrongly targeted. It is a dispute between the censor board and producer,” Punjab BJP leader and spokesperson Vineet Joshi said. BJP is not in favour of a ban on the movie if it is cleared by the High Court on Monday.