Weeks after singer KK died of cardiac arrest here, following his performance at Nazrul Manch, TMC MP Saugata Roy on Sunday expressed reservation over this "trend of spending a huge sum of money for bringing in big-time musicians from Mumbai at college fests".
The Dumdum MP said at a function in the Baranagar area of north Kolkata that he saw no merit in the efforts often made by student unions to hire expensive artists. He also disapproved of the source of funds for such events. "If you have to organize such huge-scale events, you have to take the help of a real estate developer or the local tout. Is that proper? I don't understand the logic behind this trend of hiring popular artists from Mumbai," Roy maintained.
Leading playback Krishnakumar Kunnath, better known as KK, died on May 31 at a city hotel, shortly after his performance at Gurudas College fest, organized by TMC’s student union. His post-mortem report suggested that he had "prolonged cardiac issues". Opposition parties, however, claimed that crowd mismanagement at the Gurudas College concert may have played a role in exacerbating his cardiac problems.
The TMC MP, during the function in north Kolkata, deplored the idea of spending lakhs of rupees over such fests. "I have heard some Rs 30 lakh or Rs 40 lakh was spent for KK's show. Where did all that money come from? Not from the air, I suppose," he said. The Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) unit of Gurudas College had maintained the institution had funded the musical soiree and not the students’ body.
Responding to Roy's assertions, TMC Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra, when approached, said "Sougatada, being a senior, elderly leader, does soul-searching and makes such comments these days. I have nothing else to say." Meanwhile, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that extortion activities by TMC's student organization are an "open secret".
"The TMCP makes an unabashed display of money power at college fests. Everyone knows that it amasses huge cash by illegal means. It is good that a senior TMC parliamentarian like Saugata Roy has woken up to the issue. But we may ask him why he remained silent all these years," he added.
