It is election season and everything takes a political colour. The Sushant Singh Rajput death probe is no exception. Going by the statements of politicians, the actor’s death is becoming a subject of Bihar versus Bengal showdown. Bihar polls are due next month and Bengal will vote in the first half of 2021.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who hails from Bihar, was found dead in his Mumbai flat on June 14. On July 25, his father KK Singh filed an FIR in Patna, naming the actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, a Bengali, as the main accused. The case was then handed over to the CBI.

It soon spiralled into a political issue in poll-bound Bihar with even the Chief Minister raking up Rajput’s name at his virtual rally on September 8. “His father lodged an FIR in Patna when he found that an appropriate investigation was not taking place (in Mumbai),” said Kumar. “Finally, when the bereaved father sought a CBI inquiry, we wasted no time in recommending it and the Centre, thankfully, gave its assent in good time. Now, we can hope that justice will be done in the matter,” said the chief minister, who is seeking his fourth consecutive term in office.

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A CBI investigation, the CM said, will “ensure justice for his family and the people of Bihar.” His ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is one step ahead. The party has incorporated Rajput’s images in their campaign propaganda. The BJP’s arts and culture wing on Saturday released masks and stickers bearing photographs of the late actor along with the hashtag ‘JusticeforSushantSinghRajput’ and a new emotive slogan in Hindi: “Na bhule hai, na bhulne denge (Neither have we forgotten, nor will we let it be forgotten).”

On the other side, Congress leader from Bengal Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury jumped to Rhea’s defence calling her arrest in the drugs case as ‘ludicrous’. In a series of tweets, Chowdhury, the newly-appointed chief of West Bengal Congress, also accused the BJP of “turning Sushant Singh Rajput into a Bihari actor” to suit the mood ahead of Bihar election. “Departed star, Mr Sushant Singh Rajput was an Indian actor, BJP turned him into a Bihari actor, only to score electoral brownie points,” he said.

Referring to Rhea’s Bengali roots, the Congress leader said, “Rhea’s father is a former military officer, served the nation. Rhea is a Bengalee Brahmin lady, justice to actor Sushant Rajput should not be interpreted as a justice to Bihari.”

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Going by the buzz around the case and the way election discourse is shaping up on the issue, there’s lots more to come. Watch this space