Bengali song on 'cut-money' takes social media by storm

Kolkata: Popular Bengali singer-songwriter Nachiketa Chakraborty's composition on 'cut-money' has gone viral on social media.

The song, significantly, comes at a time when the issue of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress' public representatives demanding and taking cut money or commission from the people for various government projects, social schemes and permissions is occupying the political centre stage.

Addressing party workers earlier this week, Trinamool supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at those leaders taking cut money, and ordered them to return the ill-gotten amount to the public from whom they had taken it in the first place.

Chakraborty was once a prominent face in most Trinamool-backed events.

In the song, he hits out at the corrupt leaders who demand and accept 'cut-money'.

Appreciating the 'satire' in the lyrics, Union Minister Babul Supriyo thanked him by sharing the video on social media. But Chakraborty took exception to this on Facebook.

Later, Supriyo took to Twitter to clarify his tweet that there was no political motivation behind his sharing the song.

"I genuinely appreciated the song. Had it been political I would have mentioned about a particular party. So I want to make myself clear," Supriyo added.

Chakraborty, on his part, has claimed the song has been composed keeping the current scenario across the nation. Terming cut money "an issue all over India", he said that some recent incidents were a "provocation for me for the song"."

Meanwhile the 'cut-money' issue is gradually spreading across the state, with common people demonstrating outside residences of Trinamool panchayat functionaries and councillors to demand their money be returned.