Veteran singer Usha Uthup has reacted to a viral social media post that linked one of her songs to Mamata Banerjee’s recent electoral defeat. The singer clarified that the claims circulating online were “incorrect and misleading”.
The controversy began after an X user shared a video of Uthup performing the Bengali song Didi and claimed that the singer was celebrating the defeat of Mamata’s Trinamool Congress in the Assembly elections.
The user also alleged that Uthup had left Kolkata during the party’s rule.
The post read, “In celebration of Didi leaving Bengal, Usha Uthup had fun by singing ‘Didi Go’. It should be remembered that during the TMC regime, cut money was allegedly demanded from her for her performances, due to which she became troubled and moved to Mumbai. Now she has returned”.
Responding to the claims, Uthup issued a clarification on Instagram, stating that she has continued to live in Kolkata since 1976 and has been performing the song for decades.
“Dear friends and music lovers... There has been a post on Twitter and WhatsApp that has been going around, to which I just want to say: Please do not unnecessarily embroil me in controversies that I have nothing to do with. 1. I have been singing the song in question for more than 25 years. 2. I have never left Kolkata and moved to Mumbai. I am very much here,” she wrote.
In the caption accompanying the post, the singer further said, “There has been a post circulating on Twitter, Insta and WhatsApp regarding me, and I would like to clarify that several statements made in that post are incorrect and misleading. The song in question is a Bengali song, composed many years ago and inspired by an Arabic tune. I have been performing it for over two decades purely as a musical rendition.”
Uthup’s daughter, Anjali Uthup, supported the singer in the comments section, writing, “Well said Ma. Keep singing and keep us all happy always... God bless you.”
The clarification comes amid the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) massive victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress’s uninterrupted 15-year rule. The Trinamool Congress’s tally fell to 80 seats from 215 in the previous Assembly, while Mamata also lost her seat.