Babul SupriyoThe status of the BJP’s publicity song in West Bengal — Ei Trinamool aar na (Trinamool no more) — is a hot button issue in Asansol, where the singer, Babul Supriyo, is the sitting MP and the candidate again. The song, which the TMC maintains has been banned, keeps playing in Supriyo’s road shows — the defence being that the ban is on its video, not the audio. There have been a few skirmishes over this, but Supriyo is in no mood to back down.
In Solidarity
As the motive behind the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka is being said to be a retaliation to the Christchurch attack, New Zealand High Commissioner Joanna Kempkers on Wednesday displayed her solidarity by wearing a Sri Lankan handloom saree. “Every waking moment and even my dreams have been filled with Sri Lanka this week,” she tweeted, as she decided to wear her heart on her sleeve.
110% No Press Meet
The BJP’s media department had a tough time on Wednesday after a rumour spread that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address a press conference in Varanasi on April 26, the day the PM files his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls. The news spread like wildfire with an ostensible press release, claiming to be issued by BJP’s Varanasi unit, started circulating on social media with Modi’s programmes for nomination filing the same day. According to the schedule in the “press note”, after filing his papers at 11.30, there was to be a press conference at 12.30 at Taj Ganges hotel in Varanasi. With news channels showing it as breaking news, BJP leaders started getting calls. “The news is 110 per cent fake,” said one party spokesperson. While some party leaders blamed the local unit for issuing “misleading press notes”, some others alleged it was a “fake press release” and “mischief” by the Congress.
