One of the beneficiaries was actor and YouTuber Sayak Chakraborty, who received Rs 2.5 lakh for creating two videos. Chakraborty told the media that one video countered what he described as “false propaganda around SIR”, while the other questioned allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on crucial issues.
Chakraborty’s name has drawn particular attention because of a controversy that erupted around him in January at iconic Park Street restaurant Olypub. Chakraborty had alleged that he ordered a mutton steak but was served beef instead. The incident escalated into a communal and political controversy, with a Muslim waiter arrested following his complaint.
The controversy subsequently became a political talking point, with the BJP amplifying the incident and criticism directed at the TMC government over its handling of the matter.
The media, which extensively amplified the incident at the time, also came under scrutiny over its coverage. Chakraborty had said on camera that he, being a Brahmin, had inadvertently consumed beef. Questions were subsequently raised about why he had continued eating the steak without knowing what meat it contained. The waiter’s account, meanwhile, received far less attention amid the outrage that followed.
The controversy has resurfaced because of the BJP’s election expenditure disclosures. AltNews reported this week that Chakraborty was accompanied at Olypub by fellow social media influencer Sukanta Kundu and Kundu’s female friend. The BJP’s payment list includes the names of Sikha Kundu and Subrata Kundu, identified in the report as Sukanta Kundu’s parents. Sikha Kundu was paid Rs 4.5 lakh and Subrata Kundu Rs 3 lakh.
The disclosures have prompted questions over whether the 30 January complaint by Chakraborty was part of a pre-planned publicity exercise. The restaurant manager had alleged that the incident was deliberately escalated.
“Everything was clear on the very day of the incident. Such a thing had never happened in our 70-75-year-old restaurant. Chakraborty refused to listen to us and made a phone call while still sitting in the restaurant. I saw BJP members arrive and start creating a ruckus. The reasons behind this are more evident now. Hopefully, the waiter Nasimuddin, who is out on bail, will now be proven innocent in the eyes of the law,” the manager said.
Chakraborty, however, denies that there was any connection between the Olypub incident and his subsequent work for the BJP. He says he took down the video when he realised that it was fuelling communal tension and denies suggestions that he was paid by the BJP to create the controversy in January.
He has pointed out that the Rs 2.5 lakh payment was made between March and May, well after the Olypub incident, for two videos produced for the election campaign. Chakraborty has also said that those who subsequently weaponised the Olypub episode to incite communal tension, rather than he, should be held responsible.
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