Congress and BJP workers today clashed in front of a cinema hall in Indore which was screening Madhur Bhandarkar's film 'Indu Sarkar', based on the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975.
Police used canes to disperse the BJP and Congress workers who came to blows near Indore's Sapna-Sangeeta cinema hall, where the movie was being shown.
An official from Indore's Bhanwarkua police station said the BJP and Congress workers shouted slogans and made advances against each other, forcing the police to use canes to disperse them.
The Congress activists alleged that Bhandarkar distorted facts and the film seeks to tarnish the image of the party among the people of the country.
On the other hand, the BJP workers claimed the Congress was trying to suppress the freedom of expression.
Meanwhile in Bhopal, the BJP urged its workers and the public to watch the film, which released today.
"The country passed through a bad phase during the Emergency. The BJP workers as well as common citizens should watch the film to know what happened during the Emergency," state BJP media in-charge Lokendra Parashar told PTI.
The democratic system had collapsed during that 21-month-long period in 1975-77 and the BJP workers should know about it so that such a thing does not happen again, he said.
However, state Congress spokesman K K Mishra claimed the film is "fully sponsored" and seeks to tarnish the image of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, in a tweet, said he is going to watch the political thriller with his family members in Indore.
He also urged his supporters to watch the movie, which stars Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Anupam Kher, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Supriya Vinod.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)