No sooner than Gujarat`s old warhorse Shankersinh Vaghela latched on to controversy surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali`s film `Padmavati` to reap political dividends than the ruling BJP too jumped on to the `ban Padmavati` bandwagon. The BJP has written to the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat "to arrange for a pre-release viewing of the film by select Rajput representatives to alleviate their raised tempers and provide fair opportunity to prevent unnecessary tension ahead of polls". BJP spokesman and Kshatriya leader I K Jadeja said that BJP would prefer that `Padmavati` movie is either banned or its release postponed in poll-bound Gujarat. He added that Khastriya and Rajput communities are opposed to any purported distortion of history and character of Rani Padmavati in the movie. History says that Padmavati never met Allaudin Khilji. Any distortion in the movie which hurts sentiments of Rajput Kshatriya community should be avoided as Gujarat is going to polls in December 2017. The movie is set to be released on December 1, 2017, while Gujarat elections are scheduled on December 9 and 14 respectively.