Humayun Kabir's Babri Move Creates A Buzz In Bengal Before 2026 Assembly Polls—Who Gains?
Kabir contested a Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket before returning to Trinamool and winning as an MLA in 2021.
Published : December 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM IST
Malda: Expelled Trinamool MLA Humayun Kabir’s laying the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid in Murshidabad’s Rejinagar, just months before the 2026 Assembly election, has created a buzz in political circles.
Kabir has not only threatened to float a new party on December 22, but also said he is exploring an alliance with AIMIM. Again, he has declared that if his party wins seats, Mamata Banerjee will facilitate a ‘homecoming’ for him in Trinamool Congress.
ETV Bharat tried to find answers to all these. Amid the political storm, who is backing this move, and who stands to lose? ETV Bharat tried to find answers to all these.
Who Is Humayun Kabir?
From Congress to Trinamool, then Independent, back to Trinamool, then BJP, then Trinamool again—Humayun Kabir has changed colours more often than any other leader in Bengal over the past decade. He even contested a Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket before returning to Trinamool and winning as an MLA in 2021. Now, he is going ahead with his Babri Masjid plan.
Why Humayun’s ‘Babri’ Move Matters
Saturday’s event saw minority crowds also from neighbouring Malda apart from Murshidabad district. Many carried bricks on their heads to the site in a symbolic gesture that reveals how deeply the Babri issue likely to resonate among the people.
Questions are being raised: Mamata Banerjee built a Jagannath temple in Digha. She is building a Mahakal temple. She talks of a Ram temple. Why no Babri Masjid? Humayun Kabir seems to be tapping this sentiment.
Malda and Murshidabad share chemistry—any incident in Murshidabad can ripple straight into Malda. BJP, Congress, CPM and Trinamool are now locked in a four-corner reaction battle.
‘Mamata’s Hidden Plan’
BJP’s South Malda president Ajay Gangopadhyay claimed Mamata Banerjee is orchestrating the entire episode through Kabir. He alleged that the Trinamool chief is trying to consolidate Muslim votes through proxy leaders and later bring Kabir back into the party fold.
Congress leader Mottakin Alam questioned the timing. According to him, Mamata is building temples, BJP is building a temple and Humayun is building a mosque. According to him, there is a common thread that links all the occurrences only in election season.
According to him, Bengal’s health and education sectors are collapsing while parties compete over religious symbols. CPI(M) leader Ambar Mitra called the entire episode “disgusting politics.” He said Kabir’s actions are part of a larger understanding between Trinamool and BJP, pointing to stalled investigations like Saradha and Narada scams.
TMC vice-president Shubhmoy Basu dismissed Kabir as a serial defector with a history of opportunism.
“I don't want to talk about Humayun Kabir. He became a Congress MLA. He was Adhir Chowdhury's right-hand man. It is said that he used to look after the business for Adhir. In 2013, he left the Congress and became a minister in the Trinamool cabinet, resigned and contested the election and lost again. Then he joined Trinamool for a few days and then joined BJP. He quit BJP and returned to Trinamool which made him the MLA from Bharatpur. He was speaking outside the party line for a long time, the party gave him many opportunities,” Basu added.
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