Trinamool suspends MLA Humayun Kabir over plan to build Babri replica

Two days before the 33rd anniversary of the controversial demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) suspended its state legislator Humayun Kabir, who recently created a storm by proposing to build the mosque in the state’s Murshidabad district. The MLA reacted, saying he was deliberately humiliated and would float a new political outfit in the district on December 22.

The Bharatpur MLA, who has remained in the headlines over the past few years with controversial takes on various issues, including the ruling party’s internal matters, had revealed that the foundation stone of the proposed replica of the mosque would be laid at Beldanga in Murshidabad on December 6, the date on which the actual 16th-century structure in Uttar Pradesh was brought down by right-wing activists in 1992.

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Senior TMC leader and minister Firhad Hakim announced the decision on Thursday (December 4) to suspend Kabir, accusing him of indiscipline at a time when the party was trying to protect peace and communal harmony in the eastern state.

'Trinamool doesn't believe in communal politics'

“Kabir was involved in communal politics, which the TMC is strictly against. TMC does not believe in communal politics. He will have no relation with the party from this moment. He is being suspended on the instructions of our top leadership,” Hakim, a senior minister in the Mamata Banerjee government and also the mayor of Kolkata, said.

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Kabir was seen at a ground in Berhampore in Murshidabad when his suspension his announced. CM Banerjee was set to attend a rally to protest the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls at the same venue later on Thursday. It was reported that the MLA dropped out of the rally minutes after his suspension.

Kabir calls it 'humiliation', to float new party

When reporters asked him about the decision, Kabir, a first-time MLA, said the suspension was a “deliberate humiliation” and that he would launch his own political outfit on December 22.

He also said his new party would contest in 135 of the state’s 294 Assembly seats in the 2026 elections.

Kabir threatened to expose Banerjee and her party over their “double standards on secular politics”. He accused the TMC of fooling minorities and claimed it had a secret understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

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“The December 6 programme will go ahead as planned. I will not cancel it. If the administration doesn't allow me to lay the foundation stone, then I will sit on a dharna and get arrested. I have full faith in the judiciary,” Kabir said.

The leader, who keeps switching political parties and had been in the Congress and the BJP earlier, claimed that lakhs of people would join the December 6 programme, which may block the all-important NH-12 that connects Kolkata in the south to Siliguri in the north.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya termed Kabir's suspension a “drama”.

“Humayun Kabir has been making controversial remarks for a long time, yet the TMC never took any concrete action. They want to establish the rule of Babur in Bengal,” he alleged.

Banerjee not happy with Babri proposal: Report

Meanwhile, NDTV reported citing sources saying that Banerjee was "hugely annoyed" with Kabir’s proposal to build a replica of the demolished temple. They also said that the party and its top leadership would not associate themselves with Kabir’s plan.

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On Wednesday (December 3), Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu said at a press conference in Kolkata that the party leadership was keeping a watch on Kabir.

The TMC leadership has, in recent times, focused on building major temples, such as the Jagannath Temple in Digha in southern Bengal and an upcoming Mahakal temple in Siliguri in the northern side, which many see as a ploy to compete with the Opposition BJP’s Hindu-centric politics.

The state government was also facing discomfort over Kabir's stance as Governor Anand Bose questioned why the now-suspended MLA was not being arrested if he was posing a law-and-order problem.

(With Agency inputs)