The ‘political war’ over the Saif Ali Khan-starrer web series ‘Sacred Games’ intensified on Wednesday after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s spokesperson Amit Malviya jumped into the row, quoting a controversial dialogue from the series to hit out at former Prime Minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi. A few days ago, a Congress worker from West Bengal had filed a complaint against actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the producers for allegedly insulting Rajiv Gandhi. 

Malviya took to Twitter and posted a dialogue, uttered by Siddiqui’s character in the web series, which made a reference to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the Bofors corruption scandal that took place during his government’s tenure. The tweet read, “Maa mari toh beta PM ban gaya, bante hi Bofors ka ghotala kiya. Apun socha jab desh ke PM (Rajiv Gandhi) ka hi koi imaan nahi to apun seedhe raaste jaa ke kya karega.” 

The post was accompanied with a video showing footages of Gandhi as a voice-over of the said dialogue played in the background. 

माँ मरी तो बेटा PM बन गया, बनते ही बोफोर्स का घोटाला किया। अपुन सोचा जब देश के PM (Rajiv Gandhi) का ही कोई ईमान नहीं तो अपुन सीधे रास्ते जा के क्या करेगा... #SacredGames #Bofors pic.twitter.com/FY0cdVthAJ

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 11, 2018

Meanwhile, the row over the ‘Sacred Games’ show turned bigger after a Congress leader filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, demanding the show to be taken off air unless the scene referring to Rajiv Gandhi and Bofors was deleted from it. The complaint was filed against the makers of the show, including directors Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, as well as Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Netflix, the online platform which airs the show.

On the other hand, the BJP has reportedly mocked the ‘intolerant’ stand of the Congress party regarding the show. 

Just a few days ago, Congress leader Rajiv Sinha in his letter to Kolkata Police complained that Nawazuddin’s character in the show, Ganesh Gaitonde "abused our late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi calling him fattu, which translated as pu*** in the subtitle". Sinha also claimed that the makers of the show had “misrepresented facts” during the former Prime Minister’s regime. 

The show, starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in pivotal roles, premiered on an OTT platform on July 6, and has received positive response from the critics and viewers alike.