Babul Supriyo: From a Bollywood sensation to sidelined politician

From beating a Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweight in his electoral debut in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to quitting politics after being dropped as a Union minister, BJP MP Babul Supriyo has had a checkered career.

Born on December 15, 1970, Supriyo hails from Uttarpara town in West Bengal’s Hooghly district. He learned the basics of music from his grandfather Banikanta N C Baral. Soon, he made a name for himself, winning several inter-school and inter-college music competitions and performing regularly for All India Radio and Doordarshan.

He quit a lucrative job at a major bank to pursue his music dreams. He went to Mumbai in 1992. His hard work paid off as he started to churn out hit songs like Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukara, Chanda Chamke and Paari Hai Ek Pari. He sang in several films in Bengali and Oriya.

Supriyo made his foray into acting and was cast in the lead role in director Tarun Majumdar’s film Chander Bari in 2007. Later he acted in some other films.

Besides music, Supriyo had another passion. Sources close to the MP said that he was always fond of motorcycles and enjoyed long rides. He was inspired by the Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevera and wanted to travel across the country.

Also read: TMC mocks Babul Supriyo's U-turn; Bengal BJP maintains silence

The 50-year-old singer-turned-politician has rarely been on good terms with the West Bengal BJP leadership, especially state president Dilip Ghosh. Following his defeat in the Assembly elections with a margin of more than 50,000 votes, the Central BJP leadership’s attitude towards him changed.

Supriyo’s frosty relationship with the BJP started coming out in the open when he was dropped from the Union Cabinet on July 7. The more he started expressing his displeasure against the decision through social media posts, the sourer his relation became with the state BJP leadership. Following one such social media post, the state BJP president retorted: “Would it be nice if he (Supriyo) was sacked?”

However, this was not the case when Supriyo first entered politics. He was a blue-eyed boy of the BJP in Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear during a rally ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he said: “Mujhe Babul Parliament me chahiye” (I want Babul in Parliament).

Supriyo stunned the TMC when he defeated its heavyweight trade union leader Dola Sen from the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency.

Even though the BJP won just two seats in Bengal in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, with S S Ahluwalia being the other winner from Darjeeling, party sources said that Supriyo was rewarded with the post of a Minister of State (MoS) in the Union Cabinet as the victory was solely on its own strength. Ahluwalia won with organisational support from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Also read: Only time will tell what I do next: Babul Supriyo after announcing decision to quit politics

Supriyo was made the MoS for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. Later he held the portfolios of MoS Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and MoS Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He retained the Asansol seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by defeating TMC’s celebrity candidate actor Moon Moon Sen.

However, his controversial remarks and flamboyant lifestyle did not go down well with the BJP leadership. The BJP sources say that while Supriyo told the RSS leadership that he was pushing the Hindutva agenda in Bengal, he was told to connect more with the people at the grassroots level during the pandemic.

His controversial remarks during a communal riot in Asansol in March 2018 and scuffle with a section of students at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University in 2019 where he claimed to have been assaulted by them made an adverse impact on his political career.

Supriyo’s humiliating defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections from Tollygunge against TMC Minister Aroop Biswas was seemingly the last straw for the BJP leadership. The BJP insiders said that the party leadership was not happy with his style of campaigning.

“It was more about Bollywood glamor than politics and forwarding the cause of the party,” said a senior state BJP leader.

Political observer and author Snigdhendu Bhattacharya told DH: “Supriyo’s defeat in the Assembly elections and the BJP’s poor performance in Asansol were the key reasons behind his removal. For instance, despite his controversial remark, BJP MP John Barla was made a Union minister as the party performed well in his home district of Alipurduar.”

It remains to be seen whether Supriyo, who has announced that he will continue as an MP, makes a comeback in politics or will he exit from the corridors of power.