Dissident Trinamool MP parodies chit fund bust

Kolkata, April 24 (IANS) With the Mamata Banerjee government facing the heat following the collapse of the Saradha Group, rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman added fuel to the fire by composing a song parodying the chit fund fiasco.

The song also mocks Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's comment in a media meet two days ago where she asked depositors to be vigilant in future and said: "'Jaa geche taa geche' (whatever money has gone, has gone").

Based on a popular old Bengali song, 'Jaa Geche Taa Jak', (Whatever has gone, let it go) sung by Shyamal Mitra and set to tune by Salil Chowdhury, Suman's innovative tweaking narrates the Sharadha Group chit fund scam.

Suman, an MP from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, had earlier penned several songs and blogs criticising various steps of the Banerjee-led government.

The parody tells the tale of how villagers were duped by agents who consequently became rich and prosperous after siphoning off funds from them.

"Graame graame ghure goriber takaye agent ra nilo haathiye, saradhar malik kagoj jaliye aashor boshalo maatiye, jaak jaa geche taa jaak" (in village after village agents siphoned off poor people's funds, the owner of Saradha held celebrations by setting papers on fire, whatever has gone has gone).

Suman's version takes a potshot at Banerjee's paintings that sold for crores of rupees as a result of which the party's funds swelled. The opposition has alleged that Saradha Group owner Sudipta Sen purchased a painting for a whopping Rs.1.86 crore.

"Koti koti taaka gelo, chhobi becha holo taaka, she gelo dole" (crores were spent, money was made by selling paintings, the money came to the party).

The parody, strummed on a guitar, also mentions the suicides in the aftermath of the company's collapse and says the common people are suffering in the wake of 'poriborton', or change, as promised by Banerjee.

Suman has had a strained relationship with the Trinamool leadership after he raised his voice against the alleged corruption among a section of party leaders and openly condemned the joint forces' operation in Maoist-infested districts of the state.

He is credited with having changed the face of modern Bengali music in the 1990s with the 'jeebonmukhi' genre, writing and singing about people and their lives.

The Sharadha Group, which had collected hundreds of crores of rupees from people, mainly in villages and small towns by promising huge returns, shut shop after defaulting on payment.

Sen was arrested along with two other senior officials of the group from Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday.