Chhattisgarh Declares 'Article 370' Film Tax-Free In State

The BJP government in Chhattisgarh on Friday declared the Bollywood film "Article 370" as tax-free in the state.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai declared the film, which centres around the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, as exempted from tax after watching it at a mall here in the evening.

A day before, the BJP government in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh had decided to give the film the tax-free status.

Sai was accompanied by wife Kaushalya Devi Sai and cabinet colleagues Ramvichar Netam and Kedar Kashyap, a statement issued by the state public relations department said.

The film, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale and starring Yami Gautam, was released on February 23.

"The situation in Kashmir has been depicted very well in the film and it tells us how due to Article 370, Kashmir was lagging behind in development and how hard our leaders had to work to eliminate the provision," the release quoted the CM as saying.

"Our ideology is about one country, one constitution, one symbol. Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was inconsistent with this basic ideology. Our leaders have strongly opposed it since independence," Sai said.

"We had resolved to remove Article 370. The resolution was fulfilled under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today Kashmir is moving towards peace," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)