Kolkata: You will see Babul Supriyo riding a Harley-Davidson someday.

On February 1, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a cut in the import duty on heavyweight bikes with engines above 1,600cc from 50 per cent to 30 per cent and for the smaller ones to 40 per cent from the existing 50 per cent. It was seen as a signal to US President Donald Trump, who has declared a trade war after taking over the Oval Office, that Delhi was ready to do business.

Sourced by the correspondent.

The move is expected to bring more Harley-Davidsons into the country. And, one of the buyers would be Bengal’s minister for information technology and electronics, Babul Supriyo.

Not now, someday.

“If you ask me this [the import duty cut] should have been done much earlier,” Babul told The Telegraph Online en route to Delhi from Nainital. “There is no reason to commend this move coming now. The Centre has done this to placate Trump. There are thousands of bike enthusiasts in India who would love to ride a Harley-Davidson.”

The price of Harley-Davidson bike models available in India range from Rs 2.39 lakh to Rs 41.78 lakh, according to the website BikeWale.

Trump, in his first term, had branded India as “Tariff King” and “a big abuser” of trade ties, and called out the import duty on Harley-Davidsons as “unacceptable.”

The import duty cuts on imported bikes came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled meeting with Trump due this week and before undocumented Indians were deported from the US in chains and cuffs.

Around nine years ago, when India persisted with the high import duty on the Harley-Davidsons, Babul was about to purchase one, then he met with an accident in Delhi’s Subroto Park in May 2016 while heading towards the airport riding his Thunderbird 500, a gift from his father after winning the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Asansol.

(Sourced by the correspondent)

“I was admitted to AIIMS. Some Union ministers came to visit, but the prime minister never enquired. Apparently he was angry with me for riding a bike ignoring his advice,” said Babul, admitting his weakness for two-wheelers.

Also a keen footballer, Babul is nursing a fractured arm for four weeks while taking care of his ministerial responsibilities.

As the youngest minister in Modi’s first team, Babul would go to attend cabinet meetings riding the Thunderbird 500, which earned him a reprimand from the PM.

Babul Supriyo. (Sourced by the correspondent)

“He [Modi] told me there were security concerns as well as it did not go with the stature of a Union minister. I don’t know what the problem was. For me it was more important to reach the venue [for the meeting] on time, rather than by what means I reached,” he said.

“I had to park the bike outside the PM’s residence and then walk in. I would go to the residences of other ministers like Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar riding my bike. In the night when I used to go around the Parliament area, the cops would be happy to see me and chat with me over cups of tea.”

He describes himself as a “smart and fast driver, not a reckless one.”

Asked if his current boss, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has said anything about his bike rides, Babul replied: “Never.”

Babul’s first bike was a Yamaha RX100, which he rode from the late ’80s in the streets of Uttarpara to Kolkata to Mumbai.

“When I quit my banking job and left for Mumbai, I took the Yamaha with me on the train. My father gave it to me when I was in Class X. I loved the sound of it. While I was starting out as a singer, after shows late into the night, with my father pillion-riding I would head home discussing my plans to move to Mumbai and pursue a career in singing,” said Babul. “Even today when I need to take tough decisions, I go for a ride. Bikes go with my philosophy of life, to keep moving on. A ride is liberating for me,” says Babul.

A young Babul had once planned to sing a song for a crush – he used the Bangla word byatha – of his while riding a bike.

Babul Supriyo with his wife. (Sourced by the correspondent)

“With my friend Surajit on the back, I went to rehearse on Delhi Road from Uttarpara. We had reached Serampore, when Surajit poked and asked, when will you sing? I replied, I had been singing all along the ride. Not one syllable reached his ears,” Babul recalls with a smile. “Uttam Kumar could sing Ei Path Jodi Na Shesh Hoy. We can’t. Better to park somewhere, sip a cup of tea or coffee and then sing for your love.”

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the red Enfield of Saroj Mandal, a colleague from the BJP in Asansol, had helped Babul reach areas inaccessible by road or where the administration said he could not go.

“So, when I won the elections my father gifted me this Thunderbird 500. He said, my election victory owed a lot to a bike and it would be a befitting gift,” he said.

Babul Supriyo's father and child. (Sourced by the correspondent)

Babul’s Thunderbird 500 has Enfield Bullet engraved instead of the usual Royal Enfield, the logo he designed himself.

“Because we call it Bullet, I had hand written this emblem which said Enfield Bullet in place of Royal Enfield is and had shared it with Siddharth Lal, owner of Eicher Motors that owns Enfield, suggesting Enfield make 1,000 limited edition bikes with this logo,” Babul revealed.

The project did not take off for some technical reasons.

When in Kolkata, Babul still rides his bike to Victoria Memorial, Dakshineswar with his wife or father accompanying him.

“I have not decided when but I will indeed buy a Harley-Davidson,” he said. “You will see me on a Harley someday.”