Censor scissors in the hands of BJP faithful

Among the new members are journalists handpicked in New Delhi, a woman leader more known for protests against ‘‘vulgar’’ entertainment. One of them says he watches movies his children recommend, another doesn’t like them at all and can’t remember the last time he saw a film.

Less than a month ago, Prasad announced the new Censor Board, with celebrities like Mukesh Ambani’s wife Neeta, Saurav Ganguly’s wife Dona and Ravi Shastri’s wife Ritu as members. Among the few wives whose surname had anything to do with films was Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri.

The regional advisory panel members, selected for two years, are entitled to Rs 500 for each movie previewed, plus travel allowance if they leave town for work.

When asked about the dominance of BJP workers in the panels, Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Indian Express: ‘‘I differ with your statement and contest it. There are many other members on the board and there will be more additions in consultation with chairperson Anupam Kher. The Mumbai board needs more people.’’ When it was pointed out that 17 BJP workers were on the Mumbai panel, he said: ‘‘That may be your observation. I do not think that’s right.

But one person who thinks it’s right is on the Mumbai advisory panel board, for the second time: Rita Makhwana. The general secretary of Mumbai BJP Mahila Aghadi, she is better known for organising protests against films and advertisements over ‘‘vulgarity’’.

But Makhwana believes she is the perfect person for the job. ‘‘Films happen to be my favourite subject of debate and discussion… Also my father was associated with films and I’ve been visiting studios since childhood,’’ she explains.

A member of the Delhi BJP working committee and one of the new censor recruits, Satish Upadhyay, shares Makhwana’s agenda: ‘‘How can people be allowed to watch pornographic material?’’

Rahul Sinha, one of the West Bengal BJP general secretaries and a member of the Kolkata censor advisory panel, is frank about the party’s motive. ‘‘It is true a lot of party members have been inducted,’’ he says, ‘‘but the film censor board should not be necessarily made of film personalities. Besides, if like-minded people to the government at the Centre are inducted, it will certainly help uphold the government’s views and priorities.’’

Renowned director Mrinal Sen is disgusted. ‘‘I never had much respect for the board and its guidelines. The less said about it the better,’’ he told The Indian Express.

A look at who’s deciding what we watch:

• DELHI: The 30-member regional advisory panel for Delhi includes 13 BJP functionaries or people associated with it: D P Sinha, a BJP central office administrator (1998-2003); Mohini Garg, ex-president of the Delhi BJP’s women wing; Mukesh Gupta, owner of Grahisads advertising company that does hoardings and ad campaigns for BJP; Pinky Anand, member of the BJP national working committee and, interestingly, now a counsel for the Congress’s Delhi government; Manoj Jain, the BJP candidate from Delhi’s Minto Road constituency in the recent elections; Satish Upadhyaya, member of Delhi BJP working committee; Neera Shastri, president of Delhi BJP women’s wing; Dushyant Kumar Gautam, BJP councillor from Vasant Vihar and vice-president of the BJP Scheduled Caste cell; Alok Kumar, a BJP candidate from Rohtas Nagar in the recent Assembly polls; Bhupender Kansal, working committee member of the BJP youth wing; Suresh Srivastav, the BJP public relations cell chief; Siddharth Nath Singh, member of the BJP media cell and youth wing working committee; and Vinay Kumar, personal aide of ex-BJP MP O P Kohli.

• MUMBAI: Seventeen of the 53 members in the panel for Mumbai are drawn from the BJP. Vinod Tawde, an MLC, general secretary of the state BJP and a close aide of Gopinath Munde, is believed to have influenced the nominations. In fact, among the new members are his sister-in-law and two personal assistants.

Apart from Rita Makhwana, there are Sangeeta Pawar, Tawde’s sister-in-law; Jyoti Alavani, wife of BJP corporator Parag Alavani; Vinod Shelar, brother of BJP corporator from Khar Ashish Shelar; Shalaka Salvi, mahila president of the BJP South Central Mumbai district unit; Rakesh Upadhyay, an ex-BJP office-bearer and film distributor; Devyani Khankhoje, BJP worker; Sunil Shinde and Dhanjay Parkhe, Tawde’s personal assistants; Tanuja Pardeshi, member of the BJP Santa Cruz women’s wing; Naval Gangaram Shewale, BJP worker; Vineet Gore, close associate of Parag Alavani; Anand Shinde and Vijay Ingle, close associate of BJP Mumbai chief Bhai Girkar; Pravina Kalme, wife of Praveen Kalme who is close to Bhai Girkar; Vinod Kamble, close associate of Atul Bhatkalkar, general secretary of Mumbai; and Arun Gondharkar, former in-charge of the BJP’s media cell who is close to all big names in the party.

Tawde denies he had pushed the names but admits the nominations were sent by the party. ‘‘Some of the members have been recommended by the committee itself. There is no personal favour on anyone. It is the party’s decision.’’

• KOLKATA: The 47-member Kolkata advisory panel has at least 14 people with BJP affiliations. While general secretaries Rahul Sinha and Shamik Bhattacharya have made it, the BJP Mahila Morcha has scored the most. The current Morcha chief, Neela Goswami, is there along with its former president Gouri Chowdhury. Also present are Neelu Ghosh, Shanti Roy and Asha Tandon. BJP state president Tathagata Roy’s office secretary Arun Gupta has also been accommodated along with his wife Suman Gupta, a BJP member.

• CHENNAI: Five of the 29 people nominated to the advisory panel here are primary members of the BJP. They include Vennira Aadai Nirmala, Lalitha Subhash, K Rajasimhan, M Jaishankar and Sujatha Rao. Except Nirmala, who is a yesteryear actress, none has any connection with filmdom.

(with Subrata Nagchoudhury in Kolkata and Chennai bureau)