New Delhi, Jan. 9: Aamir Khan is not only being replaced as the face of Incredible India, he is also being dropped from a mega road safety campaign in what appears to be a fallout of the "intolerance" controversy.

Government officials said the actor had been signed as the brand ambassador for the road safety campaign in December 2014 at the behest of Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

Road transport and highways minister Gadkari had personally approached Aamir after watching an episode of his TV talk show, Satyamev Jayate, in October that year. The episode was called "Road Accidents or Murders?"

"The minister thought the episode was very well researched and documented and was highly impressed with Aamir's initiative to raise important social issues through his programme," an official attached to Gadkari's office said.

"Since the ministry was already looking to launch a countrywide campaign to spread awareness on safe practices on the road, Aamir seemed the best choice to be its face," he said.

Aamir agreed to feature in television and print ads for the campaign free of cost after a meeting with Gadkari in Mumbai.

The ministry then engaged Piyush Pandey to create content for the public service ads, a director in the ministry's transport division said.

"Several meetings were held with Pandey and ministry officials to decide the form and nature of the campaign. A meeting was then scheduled between the ad-maker and the minister last October but it did not happen because of a sudden change in Gadkari's programme. So, it was postponed to December," he said.

"In the meantime, Aamir had stirred a storm by commenting on the state of affairs in the country, and the ministry decided to choose somebody else in his place."

At an awards event last November, Aamir had spoken up against intolerance in India. He had said that his wife Kiran Rao had wondered if the family should leave the country, drawing fire from BJP and RSS leaders.

Soon afterwards, the tourism ministry had announced that it would not renew its contract with McCann Erikson, which had been producing the Incredible India ads featuring Aamir.

Vijay Chhibber, the former road transport secretary who retired last December, said the ministry had been "very enthusiastic" when Aamir "committed" to be part of the road safety project and had been asking for his time to begin work.

"We were told by the actor's team that he likes to be involved in the process of production, so several sessions would be required before the actual shooting of the ad films begin," Chhibber told The Telegraph today.

"However, because of the actor's prior work engagements, those sessions kept getting delayed. And when in November he made that strong statement, it became clear this association would not continue and we would have to look for some other celebrity for the project."

Pandey, the co-executive chairman and national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather India, said he had been excited about the project with Aamir but it had got delayed because of "co-ordination" issues.

"When I was approached to become part of the campaign, I readily agreed to do the work pro bono. I was very excited that Aamir was on board since he brings so much sincerity and honesty to anything he does," he told this newspaper.

"But the project has been pending for a while because of time and co-ordination issues," said Pandey, who has created ads for the Indian Head Injury Foundation, an NGO that spreads awareness on road safety issues.

Told that the ministry was considering somebody else for the campaign, Pandey said: "The government will take its decision on who is to promote which of its initiatives and that's its prerogative. I will continue to do what I can in my capacity."