Bengaluru, Dec 29: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda Friday said he too was an "Accidental Prime Minister" amid a political row over the movie with the same title.

The film is based on Manmohan Singh's tenure as India's prime minister from 2004 to 2014 with the Congress alleging it was the BJP's propaganda against their party.

The movie is based on the book of the same name by Sanjaya Baru, who served as Singh's media adviser from 2004 to 2008.

The film's trailer was released in Mumbai on Thursday.

Reacting to a question over the controversy, the 85-year-old JDS supremo said "Actually I don't know, why that was allowed, I think it started three or four months ago.

I don't know who has permitted, why? honestly, I have not gone through this so called Accidental Prime Minister.

I'm also (an) Accidental Prime Minister," Gowda said in a lighter vein.

In the 1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government. The United Front, a conglomeration of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties, decided to form the government at the Centre with the support of the Congress and chose Gowda to head the government.

He served as prime minister from June 1 1996 to April 21 1997 with the help of regional parties and Congress. Later when Congress withdrew support, Gowda had to step down.

Directed by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, the film stars Kher as Manmohan Singh and Akshaye Khanna as Baru. It is slated for release on January 11.

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Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.