Congress approaches ECI against Doordarshan telecast of 'The Kerala Story'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a "tacit effort" to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling BJP.

The decision of Doordarshan evoked strong protests from both the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala.

Doordarshan has announced that the movie will be broadcast on April 5.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M) expressed strong protest on Friday against the decision to telecast the movie and said it would organise a protest march to the Doordarshan office in the state capital.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, sent a letter to the Election Commission today, seeking to direct Doordarshan to withdraw from its decision to telecast "the extremely malicious 'The Kerala Story' movie".

"As you are aware, The Kerala Story is a propaganda film based on extremely false promises and attempts to paint a bleak picture of the people of the state. I believe this is part of Sangh Parivar's poisonous agenda to divide the country along communal lines," Satheesan said in his letter.

He said the decision by the Central government to telecast the movie through Doordarshan before the Lok Sabha election was a tacit effort to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling BJP.

"The decision of Doordarshan is a direct insult to the people of Kerala. It is also in violation of model poll conduct, which forbids any effort to divide society on religious lines," the senior Congress leader said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday condemned Doordarshan's decision and asked the public broadcaster to withdraw from screening the controversial movie, saying it would only "exacerbate communal tensions" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Vijayan had asked the national broadcaster not to become a "propaganda machine" for the BJP and the RSS.

"The decision by @DDNational to broadcast the film 'Kerala Story', which incites polarisation, is highly condemnable. The national news broadcaster should not become a propaganda machine of the BJP-RSS combine and withdraw from screening a film that only seeks to exacerbate communal tensions ahead of the general elections.

"Kerala will remain steadfast in opposing such malicious attempts to sow hatred," Vijayan said in a post on 'X'.

In a statement, the ruling CPI(M) had also asked the public broadcaster to withdraw its decision to telecast the movie.

The party asked it not to stand with the "BJP's attempt to polarise" the secular Kerala society.

The Kerala High Court had last year refused to stay the release of the film, stating that the movie trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.

The court had said that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has examined the movie and found that it is suitable for public exhibition.

The movie's trailer was severely criticised and challenged before the court for "falsely" claiming that 32,000 women from Kerala got converted and radicalised and were deployed in terror missions both in India and the world.

The BJP had alleged that there was an unofficial ban on the movie in the theatres of the state.

Strong protest was held by the CPI(M) and the Congress against the movie when it was released in 2023.