Asserting that the 2017 Punjab elections are going to fought on the grounds of the rampant drug abuse in the state, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani in his pocket and using him as a pawn to further his chances in the polls next year by playing politics over the upcoming controversial flick, 'Udta Punjab'.


"It is our humble request to Modi-ji, Jaitley-ji and Badal-ji that after letting Punjab suffer for 10 years under the influence of drugs, they should stop playing politics with 'Udta Punjab'.

Nihalani is launching a tirade of charges on an innocent producer without any proof and he wants him to apologise," AAP leader Ashish Khetan said.

Asserting that the NDA regime and the Parkash Singh Badal government would face maximum loss if the 'reality' in Punjab came to light, Khetan further said that the Prime Minister was using the Censor Board chief as a pawn and was attacking an 'innocent' film instead of going after the real problem.


"Nihalani has made it clear that he is not behind the controversy. It is the Modi and the Badal governments and that he is simply a pawn in all this. Harsimrat Kaur, the sister of Majithia, is in Modi-ji's Cabinet and Majithia, whose name has come up in several drug scams, is in Badal's Cabinet. So, you can see that they are all in the same boat here. Even Jaitley-ji has defended Majithia," Khetan said.