Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Election Commission of India is looking into the Twitter handle of singer-turned-BJP MP Babul Supriyo after he responded to the commission on Wednesday, saying he did not release the BJP theme song.
The Election Commission (EC) had sent him a showcause notice on Tuesday, seeking an explanation on release of the song without the required permission from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), thereby violating the Model Code of Conduct.
The song has allegedly defamed Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and the TMC filed a complaint against it.
The EC’s media watch centre took notice of the song and asked Supriyo to submit an explanation. There was an objection over the content of the song and also against circulating it without the mandatory certification. “The ECI and the MCMC are looking into the matter. We have brought it to their notice that the song was uploaded on Twitter,” said a senior EC official.
On Wednesday, Supriyo held a press conference and had claimed that he did not release the song, but sent it to some friends. “I haven’t released the song yet. I had only shared it with a few of my party workers,” Supriyo had told reporters. Supriyo also defended himself saying the videos of him shooting the song was recorded by a few media persons present inside the studio.
An FIR was filed against Supriyo in Asansol South police station following a complaint by Gourav Gupta, secretary of the Paschim Bardhaman Students Library Coordination Committee, police said.
He had alleged that the lyrics of the song made unsubstantiated allegations against Mamata. It is malicious and derogatory in nature, he added.
