Tmc QueSTIOnS Pm’S LOVe fOR RabIndRa SanGeeT

In his recent 43rd edition of Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while talking about the contribution of Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore to the world of literature, said that when he was young he loved listening to Rabindra Sangeet on All India Radio at 5.30 am. “I do not know Bangla, but had the habit of rising early since my childhood and in Eastern India, radio broadcasts start early while in western India these start a bit late. I have a faint memory that probably around 5.30 in the morning, Rabindra Sangeet used to be broadcast on radio and I had developed a habit to listen to Rabindra Sangeet on radio,” Modi told the nation. In West Bengal, this has, however, triggered a controversy. Apparently, AIR does not go on air so early in the morning. “The first Rabindra Sangeet programme of the day is aired by AIR Kolkata at 7.45 am and the timings were no different when Modi was young,” claimed a Trinamool Congress leader.