BJP, Congress Question Singer KK's Death, Trinamool Cries "Vulture"

The shocking death of singer KK after a concert in Kolkata has sparked a political war of words, with the Opposition targeting the administration over poor arrangements at the venue and the ruling Trinamool Congress saying death should not be politicised.

"There should be an impartial investigation into the incident as there was a complete lapse on the part of the administration to ensure proper security arrangements.

"Around 7,000 people were reportedly present at the venue of the programme where the seating capacity was around 3,000 people. He was mobbed there, which means security arrangements were not in place for a VIP," news agency PTI quoted BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya as saying.

State Congress president and the party's leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, too, demanded a probe.

"All said and done I do demand a thorough inquiry behind the sad demise of singer #KK by a competent authority," he tweeted.

"The prevailing ambience of the Najrul Mancha during his performance reveals many unsavoury questions including critical mismangement of the said platform which might have been triggered his death," Mr Chowdhury added.

Reacting sharply, Trinamool's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the BJP should stop its "vulture brand of politics" and should not politicise an unfortunate incident.

"His death is really unfortunate, and all of us are really sad about it. But what the BJP is doing is not at all expected. The saffron camp should stop its vulture brand of politics. They should stop politicising death. We won't be astonished if BJP starts claiming that KK was their party leader," he said.

Mr Ghosh said the administration is taking all measures and an investigation is underway.

Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, was performing at a college fest in Kolkata last evening when he felt unwell. He first went to his hotel and was later rushed to a hospital when his condition deteriorated. He died on way to hospital.

The cause of the singer's death remains unknown and a post-mortem report is expected soon. Police have registered a case of unnatural death, sources have said.

But many social media users claim that the closed auditorium, Nazrul Manch, was overcrowded and the sweltering heat made things worse.

Visuals of the singer sweating profusely during a break are also doing the rounds. In one such visual, voices were heard saying, "Bohot zyada garam hai (it is very hot)". KK was seen gesturing to a man on stage and appeared to be talking about the air-conditioning.