Kolkata: A bust of legendary singer Kishore Kumar in the southern part of the city became a point of contention between the TMC and the BJP on his 93rd birth anniversary, with the saffron camp alleging that its members were not allowed to pay floral tributes on the occasion, a charge rebuffed the ruling party of West Bengal.
Actor-turned-BJP leader Rudranil Ghosh claimed that he and some of his saffron camp colleagues were thwarted from garlanding the bust, installed near Tollygunge Metro station. "Kishore Kumar is integrated with our culture. He is our pride. The TMC showed its true colours with its narrow-minded politics over Kishorji. We were stopped from garlanding his bust," he said.
Ghosh said he and other BJP leaders later garlanded a picture of the late singer at the Metro station. Dismissing the allegations as false, Tollygunje MLA and Bengal minister Arup Biswas said, "We don't believe in politicising such occasions. Kishore Kumar belongs to everyone. Biswas was seen offering floral tributes at the bust of the late singer.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, earlier in the day, paid rich tributes to the music maestro, pointing out that he represented the rich cultural strength of Bengali diaspora across the world. My sincere tribute to the legendary singer Kishore Kumar on his birth anniversary today! He represents the cultural strengths of the Bengali diaspora across the country and the world, and I salute the genius," she tweeted. (Agency inputs)
