The Janata Dal (Secular), on Friday, urged the Election Commission to ban the screening and telecast of films and advertisements featuring popular South Indian actor Kichcha Sudeep.
Sudeep had recently announced his support to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in poll-bound Karnataka even as he clarified that he is not entering politics or contesting the polls.
The JD(S) wrote to the EC, demanding that films and ads featuring the actor should be stopped till the elections are concluded. The party claimed that such ads, films, and posters can influence voters now that the actor has extended support to the BJP.
"Sudeep does a press conference along with Karnataka CM, and an invitation to all media was sent on letterhead of BJP. He (Sudeep) says that he is going to do whatever CM says. He adheres to a political party, so he is a politician. According to rule of law of the land, any person who has a political affiliation, cannot be seen on a public platform. That is the reason we have requested EC to look into the matter of Sudeep’s movies, OTT platforms, and advertisements," JD(S) spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed said.
Sudeep had said he would follow Bommai's instructions as the CM stood by him during his difficult times. "I am here only because Bommai wants me to support a few people. However, I cannot campaign for everybody because humanly I cannot and I won't," he had said.
Reacting to the demand of the JD(S), minister K. Sudhakar said it does not matter whether Sudeep's films and ads are shown on TV or anywhere else. "He (Sudeep) is hugely popular, when he goes in favour of our people, for campaigning we will definitely have great support from the cadre and also he will fetch us votes and seats," news agency ANI quoted Sudhakar as saying.