Singer Rupankar Bagchi slammed for his remark on late singer KK hours before his death

Questioning the West Bengal audience, Bagchi, a reputed singer, said in a Facebook video, "We (Bengali singers) all sing much better than KK but why don't you get excited over our performances? Why? You are always cheering KK. Who is K, man?"

"We are better than any K. At any point of time and performance, the singers (Anupam Roy, Somlata Acharya, Iman Chakraborty, Raghav Chattopadhyay) whom I have mentioned here (in the video) are far better than any K. Why are you all so excited with Bombay? For how long will you all be excited over Bombay? Support Bengal like South India or Odisha do for their own people," he added.

After his performance at the Nazrul Mancha, KK returned to his hotel in downtown Kolkata.

He felt sick there and was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead at 10 pm.

Slamming Bagchi, one user with name Ranita tweeted, "Let Rupankar Bagchi be stripped off his National Award. He is a disgrace to the entire community of Indian singers."

One Sudip says, "Talent speaks Rupankar Talent speaks and unfortunately u do not have that ! you better do some stupid real time show ! Accept it that you lack singing talent !"

One Prithish says, "This was the jealous statement from one singer #RupankarBagchi stating "Who is #KK" because of craze among youths on #KKLiveConcert at Kolkata. Rupankar Bagchi you can't ever be #KK #KKwasKK. Shameful statement."

Backtracking from his statement, Bagchi, who landed in Kolkata Wednesday, said, "... I haven't spoken against KK. I have tried to speak on Bengali songs, literature. Why will I have a grudge on KK? I don't know him."