The disclosure of BJP’s West Bengal election expenditure has sparked a storm on social media after revealing a Rs 2.5 lakh payment to Bengali actor and vlogger Sayak Chakraborty, who was involved in a controversial beef-steak incident at Kolkata’s Olypub in January 2026.
The report, published on the party’s letterhead and signed by office secretary at the BJP headquarters Mahendra Kumar Pandey details the party’s expenditure between March 15, the date of announcement of West Bengal assembly elections, and May 6, 2026, the official completion of the polls. The report shows that the BJP paid Rs 2,50,000 to a person named Sayak Chakraborty.
The payment appears under Schedule 3, titled “Expense(s) on Media Advertisement (print and electronic, bulk SMS, cable, website and TV channel etc.) on General Party propaganda authorised/incurred by Party Central Headquarters”. Chakraborty is listed at serial number 23 under the “electronic media” category.
The disclosure has drawn particular attention because Chakraborty was involved in a beef-related controversy at the iconic Park Street pub, Olypub, on January 30, 2026.
Following the publication of the expenditure report, Chakraborty acknowledged that he had been paid by the BJP, but claimed it had nothing to do with the Olypub incident.
The Olypub Incident & Why the Expenditure Disclosure Raises Eyebrows
On January 30, Chakraborty alleged that he had been served beef steak instead of a mutton dish at the restaurant. He subsequently lodged an FIR against Olypub and the concerned waiter who allegedly served him beef.
Sayak recorded the heated interaction on a live video and posted it on his Facebook page. His page, ‘Sayakk’, has 1.5 million followers. The 3-minute-47-second video has since been deleted from the page but remains available across social media. The clip can be watched here:
According to Chakraborty, while having dinner at Olypub, he and two friends ordered a mutton steak. The server placed a plate of food on their table without telling them what it was. Unaware of what they had been served, they ate it. After they had finished the dish, the waiter returned with another plate and said, “This is your mutton steak.” When they questioned him about the earlier dish, the waiter allegedly said it had been a beef steak.
Trouble started after that.
In the viral video, Chakraborty can be heard saying, “I ordered mutton steak; how could you mess it up and serve me beef instead? How could you hear beef instead of mutton? Do you know I am a Brahmin? I ate beef instead of mutton because of you!”
He also asked the server, Nasimuddin Sheikh, about his religion, before saying, “You made me eat Go-Mata!”
Following the altercation with the server, the actor lodged an FIR at Park Street police station. Kolkata Police arrested Nasimuddin based on the complaint. He was released on bail four days later.
The disclosure of the BJP’s expenditure immediately raised questions about whether Chakraborty had been paid by the party for his role in the Olypub episode. The questions gained further significance given that the incident had the potential to fuel a communal debate around beef, religion and Hindu identity — ideas that could serve the BJP’s broader political messaging.
They also arose because the immediate relatives of another person who was with Sayak during the incident appear in the BJP’s expenditure list.
At Olypub, while the beef controversy was unfolding, Sayak was accompanied by fellow social media influencer Sukanta Kundu and Kundu’s female friend. The BJP’s list includes the names of Sikha Kundu and Subrata Kundu, identified as Sukanta’s parents. Sikha and Subrata were paid Rs 4,50,000 and Rs 3,00,000 respectively.
Sayak Chakraborty’s Disclosure
As social media posts questioning Chakraborty’s association with the BJP gained traction, and media reports on the issue emerged, Sayak made a Facebook post on the morning of September 26, admitting that he had received a payment from the party.
He, however, claimed that his reaction at Olypub was a genuine outburst and not paid promotion.
He pointed to Olypub’s statement apologising for the meat mix-up as evidence that the episode was not scripted to evoke emotions. According to him, the BJP and others who shared his views simply supported him after the incident.
Chakraborty said the BJP and a few other political parties had subsequently approached him to make promotional content. He accepted the BJP’s offer and made several videos, including content on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), possible reasons behind Narendra Modi’s silence during the conflict, and a congratulatory message for Suvendu Adhikari after he became chief minister.
He reiterated that these videos were made between March and May, the period covered by the BJP’s expenditure report, while the Olypub incident took place in January. Alt News tried calling up Chakraborty on his mobile number, but his phone was switched off.
Kundu, too, shared a Facebook post on September 26, acknowledging that the payment details being linked to him were indeed genuine. At the same time, he asserted that the Olypub incident was not part of his political campaign.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Anindya Hazra.
Anindya Hazra | Radio Free (2026-09-27T05:32:50+00:00) BJP’s poll spending: Actor involved in Kolkata beef row admits to taking money, but claims it was not for the pub incident. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/09/27/bjps-poll-spending-actor-involved-in-kolkata-beef-row-admits-to-taking-money-but-claims-it-was-not-for-the-pub-incident/
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