Candidates for 21 seats were announced on Wednesday by Humayun Kabir in Kolkata for his newly launched Aam Janata Unnayan Party(AJUP). The remaining candidates will be announced on Sunday. The party will fight from 182 seats in total of the 294 Assembly seats of West Bengal. Kabir will contest from Rejinagar and Naoda constituencies in Mushidabad district.
“I will win more than 100 seats.” Said founder of AJUP Humayun Kabir. “I am taking on the captainship for the A team for the party, the results should definitely show. I will win maximum seats.”
Kabir is the incumbent Bharatpur MLA who won on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections, but defied the party leadership by laying the foundation stone for the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad district on December 6, 2025 in the presence of lakhs of people. BJP called Kabir the B-team of TMC, though the ruling party suspended him.
“Not just in Malda and Murshidabad, the candidates across Bengal will win many seats.” Added Kabir.
Kabir is undeterred when he is often accused of indulging in religious politics. “The Ram temple is built(in Ayodhya by BJP), Jagannath Dham(In Digha by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee). If I build a mosque, it is religious politics? Who is saying this? If they do it, it is constitutional, if I do it, it is unconstitutional,” added the Bharatpur MLA.
Who Are The Candidates Fielded?
Yasser Haider
One of the candidates is Yasser Haider, former son in law of Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakkim. Haider has been fielded from Kandi in Murshidabad district. Haider is unfazed by contesting against the TMC. “If I was scared, I would not have joined another party. I am not scared. I am only scared of the almighty Allah. I have a lot of respect for the Mayor and his family, I will always have that, but when I have a chance to stand as a candidate from the AJUP, I will give it my 100 per cent,” said Yaseer Haider.
Getting a ticket from the AJUP is an opportunity that Haider clearly does not want to miss. He says his mission goes beyond just contesting against the TMC and that he believes in Kabir’s Babri Mosque dream. “If a person wants to build a Babri Masjid, I don’t find it a big issue. I felt the government should have supported his cause. This is not political or against the law. He (Kabir) is building a mosque where people can pray,” said Yasser Haider.
The Bharatpur MLA is seen as an alternative face for the Muslims. Will this confidence win the AJUP sizeable number of votes is the big question.
“For the past 15 years, the current government has not done anything for the Muslim community. When the vote is around the corner, they announce welfare schemes, they use the Muslim community. When the vote is over, they don’t even bother to look at us,” added Haider.
Poonam Begum
Kabir has fielded a woman candidate Poonam Begum from Bhawanipore constituency, where the fight between Mamata and BJP heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari is making headlines. “Why should I be scared? We have made her win as the public, today I am standing in front of her. Winning and losing is part of game, but contesting is a big thing. Allah has chosen me,” said Poonam, who is contesting for the first time ever. Begum says she may not have been in active politics before, but has been witnessing the situation in the state as a voter.
Begum is a social worker, working with the Marium Foundation for the last 15 years on women-centric issues in Bhawanipore constituency.
On being asked why she decided to stand for the AJUP against Mamata, Begum said she rose to the occasion as no one else was willing to. “Humayun Kabir was looking for a candidate and no one was willing to stand from here. He (Kabir) wanted me to contest, so I came forward,” added Begum who is confident of bagging a sizeable number of Muslim votes which went in favour of Mamata in her constituency.
The challenges are many for a party that has just forayed into politics, with a magnum opus vision of playing a key role in West Bengal politics. Candidates of AJUP are riding on the confidence that the Bharatpur MLA has shown. From starting construction of the Babri Masjid to not stepping down as MLA despite being suspended from the TMC and then forming his own party, Kabir is the mascot of hope that a section of the minority community wants to place their bet on. Will the odds be in the rebel TMC MLA’s favour?
