Kolkata Police question Mithun Chakraborty over election speech

The Kolkata Police on Wednesday questioned actor Mithun Chakraborty, who campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after joining it ahead of the March-April West Bengal polls, for about 45 minutes via video conferencing for allegedly “preaching violence” in his speeches.

Mrinal Kanti Mukherjee, a local police officer, confirmed the questioning but refused to elaborate.

There was no immediate comment from Chakraborty or the BJP.

Mrityunjay Pal, a Kolkata resident, lodged a complaint against Chakraborty on May 6, saying the actor used a monologue from one of his popular Bengali movies in which his character describes himself as a cobra whose bite can kill anyone. Last week, Chakraborty moved the Calcutta high court seeking quashing of the case. But the court allowed the police to question him virtually.

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Chakraborty joined the BJP at a rally in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He used the monologue in his speech on that day and repeated it again later.

Chakraborty campaigned extensively and led as many as three road shows on some days. The BJP even allotted him a chopper for campaigning.

The Bengal elections were among the most keenly contested recently with Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah leading the BJP from the front. Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept back to power by winning 213 seats while the BJP bagged only 77. Tensions between the two parties have continued with the BJP accusing TMC workers of their involvement in post-poll violence. The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested four politicians including two ministers last month on corruption charges. The four were later released on bail even as the TMC linked the arrests to BJP’s vendetta politics for losing the polls.