The Prime Minister's Office has reportedly asked the tourism ministry to provide a report on the removal of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador of the government's "Incredible India" campaign.
The news of Khan's removal had sparked a controversy, with many questioning if it was linked to the recent protests against the actor for his statement last November about intolerance in India.
However, the tourism ministry had rubbished the claims and said that Aamir Khan's contract had expired.
CNN-IBN reported on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office has sought a report on the development.
Nripendra Mishra, principal secretary to the prime minister, phoned Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma and asked him for details on Khan's contract for the campaign, The Indian Express reported. Mishra also sought a report on the same day.
However, ANI cited government officials saying that no such report was sought by the PMO.
Sharma had said on Wednesday that the contractual agreement with creative agency Mc Cann Worldwide that produces the social awareness campaign featuring Aamir Khan had ended.
"Ministry has not hired Aamir. It was the agency which has hired him. Since the contract with the agency is no more, automatically the arrangement with the actor no longer exists," Sharma said, according to the Press Trust of India.
However, on the same day, the ministry issued a press release in which it said that "at present it has a contractual agreement with creative agency Mc Cann Worldwide to produce social awareness campaign and the said campaign featured Aamir Khan."
According to latest reports, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan is likely to replace Khan as the face of the "Incredible India" campaign.
Bachchan is likely to be recruited directly by the government, NDTV reported.
