The 2023 controversial release, The Kerala Story once again becomes the topic of debate in India. After its telecast on Doordarshan last week, the screening of the movie by the Idukki diocese in Kerala exacerbated the concerns of LDF and UDF. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Opposition Leader had accused the BJP of using this movie to polarize the Kerala citizens ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. To this, BJP State Chief, K Surendran said “ISIS recruitment is not a fake story.” as reported by Hindustan Times.
The youth wing of the CPI(M), in response, screened the video titled “The Kerala Story True or Fake?” by Dhruv Rathee who recently faced allegations of feeding wrong information to his audience constituency. Prior to this act, the Democratic Youth Federation of India made headlines for staging a protest before the DD office in Thiruvananthapuram just a few minutes after the telecast of the movie was scheduled. Leader of the Opposition lodged complaints with the Election Commission raising concerns about the movie being the BJP’s behest. According to Satheesan, the BJP wants to appeal to a particular section of the society to gain votes in the upcoming elections.
However, the BJP offers a different view. They assert that the Censor Board had already approved the movie’s release in 2023, therefore lifting all the allegations against the movie. According to them, opposition to the film suggests the fear of it expliciting the truth. Moreover, they contend that there was nothing unlawful or wrong with the Doordarshan telecast of the movie.