‘I can send her to Assembly’: Ally-turned-foe Humayun Kabir offers own seat to Mamata

Humayun Kabir, a former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader who was expelled last year by the party leadership and floated his Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), has offered his former party boss, Mamata Banerjee, his Rejinagar Assembly seat for a potential bypoll, suggesting that it could help her find a route to the Assembly.

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Kabir's invite comes exactly a month after Mamata, the former chief minister of West Bengal, lost her Bhabanipur constituency to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari by more than 15,000 votes. This has denied her an opportunity to enter the state Assembly after a gap of 15 years. The TMC supremo contested from one seat this time, unlike in 2021, when she also took on Adhikari in Nandigram but lost.

'Mamata can't win from Nandigram'

The AJUP leader, who warned of the fall of the TMC government before the polls held in April, said if the TMC leader went to him, he could send her to the Assembly from Rejinagar. He also added that Mamata would not succeed if she contests from Nandigram, another seat that would go to bypoll since it was vacated by Adhikari, who contested from two seats.

"If Mamata Banerjee comes to me, I can send her to the Assembly from Rejinagar. If she contests from Nandigram, she will not win. But if she wants, I will resign and ensure her victory from my constituency,” Kabir said, highlighting the TMC chief's 2021 debacle.

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Kabir also expressed confidence that in Rejinagar, his words are final. "Nobody may listen to her (Mamata) now, but in Rejinagar, Humayun Kabir is the final word," Kabir, one of the most influential voices in Bengal's Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district, said. He also won the Nowda seat, which is also located in the same district.

The AJUP chief's words sound remarkable, particularly at a time when Mamata's TMC has found itself decimated, first by the BJP in the elections and then by rebels, after the results.

Kabir said the situation in which the TMC chief finds herself today pained him. "Whatever I am today is because of her," she said.

Kabir's 'sympathy' for Mamata also came despite the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen of Asaduddin Owaisi severed its alliance with the AJUP weeks ahead of the elections after the TMC released a video from a purported sting operation claiming him to have links with the BJP and plotting to influence the outcome of the state polls. The AJUP ended with two seats, both won by Kabir.

Kabir anticipates another split in TMC

Kabir also predicted something grave for the TMC at the centre. He told NDTV that rebellion was also brewing among the party parliamentarians and 20 of them were prepared to revolt against Abhishek Banerjee, the MP from Diamond Harbour and the leader of the TMC in the Lower House, eyeing to remove him from the post. According to him, the party is set for another split, this time in New Delhi. The TMC has 29 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

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On another occasion, Kabir said the TMC's current turmoil was inevitable, and blamed Mamata's leadership decisions and Abhishek's rise for the prevailing state of affairs.

The TMC witnessed a split in the Bengal Assembly as nearly 60 MLAs decided to back dissenting legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who emerged as the Leader of the Opposition, after a signature scam to back Sivandeb Chattopadhyay as the LoP imploded.

(With agency inputs)