Brajesh Pathak hails UP govt's decision to make 'The Kerala Story' tax-free, urges people to watch film

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 9 : Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Tuesday hailed the decision of the Yogi Adityanath government for making the recently released film 'The Kerala Story' tax-free in the state and urged people to watch the movie.

"Making 'The Kerala Story' tax-free is a very good decision. I want the people of Uttar Pradesh to watch this film and understand how our sisters have suffered. We will also go and watch the film," Pathak told .

There's a continuing political outcry around the movie even as it has been made tax-free in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and now Uttar Pradesh, becoming the second state to make the move.

"'The Kerala Story' to be made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh," CM Yogi said in a tweet.

Pathak also reacted to the ban on film in West Bengal and said that the people in Bengal will not accept the ban.

This comes a day after the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal banned the film 'The Kerala Story' citing "maintenance of peace" and to avoid incidents of "hatred and violence" in the state.

On the decision to ban the film, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "It is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and maintain peace in the state."

Helmed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film evoked sharp opposition from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who called it "RSS propaganda". 'The Kerala Story' stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bih, Siddhi Idn and Sonia Bal in lead roles.

A massive controversy erupted around the film after its trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. However, in the face of protests, the contentious figure in the trailer was later withdrawn.