Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir who was suspended from Trinamool Congress (TMC) for laying the foundation stone for Babri Masjid in Murshidabad district on December 6, floated his new party on Monday from the stage in Beldanga called ‘Janata Unnayan Party’ (JUP) Kabir also went on to announce his party candidates for the 2026 Assembly elections in the state.
Kabir himself will contest from two seats in Murshidabad district. “I will contest from Rejinangar and Beldanga and I will win,” he said.
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Imran Haji, the party’s district president, will contest from a seat in West Midnapore district, Mudhaira Biwi will contest from Malda district and Nisha Chatterjee will contest from TMC MLA Babul Supriyo’s Ballygunge constituency in South Kolkata, signalling that his party is not just limited to minority-dominated rural districts.
Kabir will announce candidates for other constituencies gradually, giving prospective alliance partners, a glimpse of the seriousness in being a dominant force to combat the BJP and TMC.
“I will make Mamata zero.” Added the former TMC leader confident his party, will be a king decision maker in forming the next government as he believes no party will be able to cross the 194 mark and come into power without his party’s MLAs. Kabir has extended an invitation to the Left Front, Congress and Indian Secular Force(ISF) to join hands with his newly launched party. Kabir believes that it will be beneficial for both the Congress and the Left to form an alliance with his party as in the current scenario, both established political parties do not have seats in the state and the JUP is their answer to bagging some seats in the upcoming elections.
However, both the Congress and the Left are tight-lipped on their plans, while the ISF says they will closely watch developments post the launch of Kabir’s party and are not completely averse to the alliance. ISF, however, does not support the politics of religious places and the Babri Mosque vision of Kabir.
Kabir had hoped Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM will join hands for a political fight in West Bengal, but the latter declined. For now, with the launch of the JUP, the Bharatpur MLA has a challenging road ahead as he is looking to field candidates in 135 of the 294 constituencies along with alliance partners or is even willing to fight alone, if others are not willing to join hands with his vision to be a formidable force in Mamata Banerjee’s turf.
