Yogi Adityanath announces ‘The Kerala Story’ will be tax free in UP

The government of Uttar Pradesh mentioned on may,9 that the recently released film ‘The Kerala Story’ will be tax-free in the state.

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Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister, made the announcement earlier today on Twitter. Uttar Pradesh is the second state to proclaim the contentious picture “tax-free.” Madhya Pradesh also made the film tax-free in the state last week on 6,May.

In a video message, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan remarked, “The film shows how the (life of) daughters who become entangled in the trap of love jihad are destroyed.” While there is already a law against (forced) conversion, the film raises awareness about the topic. This film should be seen by everyone, which is why the Madhya Pradesh government has declared the film tax-free, he added.

The chief minister’s secretariat also said that Adityanath could watch the film along with his cabinet colleagues at a special screening to be organised at Lok Bhawan. Raghvendra Mishra, UP BJP secretary, recently took 100 female students to see the film in Lucknow.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, imposed an immediate ban on the screening in the state on Monday.The restriction was ordered to avoid any incident of hatred and violence according to a top state government official.

Meanwhile, the film’s producer, Vipul Shah, has stated that they will file a legal challenge to the TMC government’s ban.