2019 Lok Sabha Elections: Babul Supriyo records BJP campaign song for West Bengal; EC issues show cause notice

Kolkata: A month ahead of the beginning of seven-phase 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo and Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo on Tuesday came up with a musical way to mark his party's rise in West Bengal and attack Trinamool Congress.

The singer-turned-politician released a video of the recording of the party's campaign song today, inviting a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India.

The Election Commission has given 48 hours to Supriyo to respond on the matter. Earlier today, the BJP MP had tweeted a video of the promotional song, probably without receiving any certification from the EC.

"The song was noticed during our media watch. We have served him a show cause notice as he did not seek permission from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC)," said Sanjay Basu, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.

Notably, candidates and leaders are required to take a certificate from MCMC in order to share any campaign material in print, electronic or social media. However, Supriyo purportedly did not take permission, violating the model code of conduct.

"The All India Trinamool Congress has also lodged a complaint regarding its content. It is being investigated," he said.

"The song cannot be played till the time he files a reply and gets clearance. We expect everyone to maintain the process," he said.

Earlier today, Supriyo tweeted: "With immense pleasure, I want to give you all a sneak-peek of the BJP campaign Song recording. Giving my voice to Amit Chakraborty's lyrics was such a delightful experience. I hope you love what we created.”

The lyrics of the song are - 'Phutbe ebar Padma Phool, Bangla Charo Trinamool...Ei Trinamool arr na' (The lotus will bloom this time, Trinamool should leave Bengal, it should not be here anymore).

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The Election Commission's show cause notice came hours after a TMC supporter lodged a complaint against the Union Minister for his song, alleging that it made subtle charges against the Mamata Banerjee-led party. The supporter filed an FIR with the Asansol Police this morning.

Unfazed by the TMC criticism, Supriyo said that it was only the truth and he did not care about what he called biased FIRs.

Supriyo posted a series of tweets with hashtag Ei Trinamool Ar Na. As the caption of one of the tweets read: “The slogans of change in Bengal, the voices raised against TMC Government's brutality by CPI(M), Congress and BJP & the sentiments that demand honest governance have all been beautifully woven into a melodious tune by Singer Babul Supriyo”, the Union minister is heard saying that he is aware of the FIR lodged against the song.

Another tweet's caption read: "The truth hurts".

The Trinamool Congress has pitted actor Moon Moon Sen against Babul Supriyo from Asansol Lok Sabha constituency. Moon Moon Sen, daughter of actress Suchitra Sen, had trounced Basudeb Acharia, a nine-time CPI(M) MP from Bankura seat in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

After the TMC announced the candidate list, Supriyo tweeted: "Mamataji always presents me with SEN-sational opponents in Asansol elections... Dola SEN in 2014 and Moonmoon SEN in 2019."

His tweet did not go down well with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who slammed the BJP MP. "He must learn good language before reaching out to seek votes from the people. What has he done? He will be defeated. He is scared of losing the elections," Banerjee said.