West Bengal: Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir formed “Janata Unnayan Party”, told on how many seats he will contest elections

Beldanga. Days after being suspended by the Trinamool Congress for laying the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid-like mosque in Murshidabad district, West Bengal MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday formed a new party called Janata Unnayan Party. Addressing a public meeting in Beldanga, Kabir revealed the names of eight candidates whom his new party will field in the 2026 assembly elections in the state.

Bharatpur MLA Kabir said that he will contest the assembly elections from two seats of Murshidabad, Rezinagar and Beldanga. Addressing the gathering, he said, “We will be able to tell you only later on how many seats we will ultimately contest.” Kabir said that his aim is to oust Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from power in the assembly elections. There are less than six months left for the assembly elections in the state. He alleged, “Mamata Banerjee is no longer the way I knew her. She is beyond the reach of the common man.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that Kabir is working to help the Trinamool Congress return to power. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya claimed, “Kabir will not play any decisive role in the upcoming assembly elections. He will have to face a crushing defeat with his old friend Trinamool Congress, with whom he is still in secret touch. The people of Bengal will reject both Kabir and his new party.”

He claimed that Kabir was trying to “divide BJP votes” in the assembly elections. Bhattacharya claimed, “In view of the situation in Bangladesh, the people of Bengal will thwart Kabir’s efforts and choose a strong nationalist force like the BJP, only that can defeat the fundamentalists.” Trinamool Congress has not yet commented on Kabir’s new party.

Amidst the uproar following Kabir’s announcement of building a mosque like Babri Masjid, Trinamool Congress had suspended him from the party on December 4. On December 6, Kabir laid the foundation of the mosque in Rejinagar. Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Kabir has been associated with almost all the major political parties of the state in the last 10 years.

In 2015, he was “expelled” from the party by the Trinamool Congress for six years after he criticized Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and alleged that the party chief was trying to make her nephew Abhishek Banerjee the ‘king’. He contested the 2016 assembly elections as an independent candidate from the Rejinagar seat, but lost to Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Choudhury.

He later joined the Congress, which had a strong presence in the district at that time, but joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. BJP made him its candidate from Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat and he stood third behind Trinamool Congress and Congress candidates. After this he returned to Trinamool Congress and became MLA from Bharatpur in 2021.