Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir Launches New Party Amid Babri Row; Mamata Reacts

Last Updated:December 22, 2025, 17:11 IST

Addressing a public meeting in Beldanga, Kabir said his party would contest the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir.

Suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday announced the formation of a new political outfit, the Janata Unnayan Party (JUP), days after his suspension from the ruling party over a controversy linked to a proposed Babri-style mosque in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

Addressing a public meeting in Beldanga, Kabir said his party would contest the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

He named eight prospective candidates at the launch but stopped short of specifying the total number of seats the party would eventually fight. “The final decision on the number of seats will be taken later," he told supporters.

Kabir, the sitting MLA from Bharatpur, said he intends to contest from the Rejinagar and Beldanga Assembly constituencies in Murshidabad.

He also launched a direct attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, claiming she had become disconnected from the public. “Mamata Banerjee is no longer accessible to ordinary people," he alleged, asserting that her party would be wiped out in Murshidabad in the next elections.

Escalating his rhetoric, Kabir said his party would play a decisive role in the 2026 polls. He reiterated his claim that no major party would secure a clear majority in the 294-member Assembly and projected himself as a “kingmaker" in government formation.

“No government can be formed without my party’s support," he said, claiming the JUP would contest a large number of seats and emerge as a critical force.

Mamata Hits Back

The launch of Kabir’s party has triggered sharp political reactions. Without naming him directly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to divide minority voters in the state.

Addressing a party meeting in Kolkata, she alleged that efforts were being made to create communal polarisation ahead of the 2026 elections and claimed such moves were politically motivated.

The BJP, however, rejected the allegations and dismissed Kabir’s political relevance. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said Kabir’s new party would have no impact on the electoral outcome and accused him of indirectly aiding the TMC.

BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain went further, alleging that Kabir’s move was part of a script designed by the ruling party to prevent disgruntled Muslim voters from shifting to the opposition.

Kabir was suspended from the TMC on December 4 after his remarks on constructing a Babri-style mosque sparked a political storm.

Despite the suspension, he went ahead with laying the foundation stone for the mosque at Rejinagar on December 6, the anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

A veteran of several political shifts, Kabir has been associated with multiple parties over the years. He was expelled from the TMC in 2015, later contested the 2016 Assembly elections as an independent, joined the Congress, and then moved to the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

After unsuccessfully contesting the Murshidabad parliamentary seat, he returned to the TMC and won the Bharatpur Assembly constituency in the 2021 elections.

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