Babul Supriyo served show-cause notice for releasing party theme song without EC permit

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has served a show-cause notice to Babul Supriyo, sitting BJP MP from Asansol, for releasing a theme song of his party without prior permission from the commission.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has confirmed that a notice has been sent to Supriyo and he has been asked to provide an explanation to the commission in this regard within 48 hours.

According to a senior official of the CEO's office, a theme song for his political party has been sung by Supriyo without the permission of the commission. According to the Model Code of Conduct, no advertorial can be released after the notification of election without proper consent of the commission.

Supriyo had taken no permission for singing the song. The commission has also instructed him to stop singing the theme song and also asked him to remove the song from the social media platforms and internet.

"Supriyo has violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by releasing a song without prior permission by the election monitoring cell and a media certification. We have sought an explanation from him within 48 hours," said Sanjay Basu, deputy CEO.

Trinamool Congress lodged a complaint with the commission in this regard on Tuesday and a CD of the song was also submitted. As per sources, the commission has received the complaint from TMC. It was alleged that the song sung by Supriyo bears some subtle charges against Trinamool Congress.

It was also alleged that the lyrics of the song propagates a message that lotus, the symbol of BJP, will bloom in Bengal. He recorded a party's campaign song which has allegedly lowered the reputation of the ruling party in Bengal.

Earlier in the day, an FIR was filed against Supriyo at Asansol South police station by West Burdwan Students' Library Coordination Committee, alleging that the song had been circulated on social media, maligning TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her party.

Supriyo has, however, claimed that he did not violate the Model Code of Conduct as he has not released the song for a campaign yet. He also said that the official report would be submitted to the commission in this regard.