Opposition trolls UP CM over his attendance at ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ movie screening

|HT|

Yogi Adityanath’s attendance at a special screening of Akshay Kumar’s new movie ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ has sparked criticism from the opposition. The chief minister was photographed with the 54-year-old actor and the movie crew, watching the film based on the life of Prithviraj Chauhan, the 12th century king. In a tweet, the Congress shared a picture and wrote in Hindi: ‘Janta ne pradesh dekhne ke liye chuna tha, yeh cinema dekh rahein hain.(The public elected for watching over the state, he is watching cinema).”

Earlier, former CM and leader of opposition in the state assembly, Akhilesh Yadav, too had taken a swipe at the UP chief minister. “The BJP government's cabinet is watching a 'historic' film in the 'modern' auditorium built by the SP government in Lok Bhavan. By the way, the film looks even better if viewed from the back and with a ticket, because that does not hurt the revenue of the state," he tweeted.

Yogi Adityanath on Thursday declared that the movie, which released on Friday, will be tax-free in the state. Several other BJP-ruled states, including Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, have made the movie tax free in the state. Thanking the UP chief minister, Akshay Kumar tweeted: “Thanks a lot for this encouragement.” He also thanked chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh - Pushkar Singh Dhami and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi too has taken a barb at the BJP over the movie amid attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. “Bank managers, teachers and many innocent people are getting killed everyday, Kashmiri Pandits are fleeing. Those who have to protect them, they have no time to promote the film. BJP has only made Kashmir its ladder of power. (sic),” he tweeted.

He was apparently taking a veiled jibe at union home minister Amit Shah who too had attended a special screening of the movie in Delhi.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)