Bengal polls: Humayun Kabir says no to Siddiqui’s ISF, yes to Owaisi’s AIMIM
Rules out alliance with Cong but says he will back Adhir if he contests election.
Kabir, however, said he was confident about an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). (Express File Photo) Ruling out any alliance with CPI(M) and Naushad Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front (ISF), suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayan Kabir on Monday said that he will not have any tie-up with Congress either but will back former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury if he decides to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Speaking to mediapersons, Kabir, who recently launched his political party – Janata Unayan Party (JUP) – said, “The ISF is delaying the decision on seat sharing. They are trying to overplay me. Therefore, we are not sharing seats with the ISF as well as the CPI(M) for the same reason.”
He further stated that his party will also not ally with the Congress, and added, “We will support Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury if he stands from Behrampur. He is a great man. The support will be on an individual basis, and not to the Congress party.”
He, however, expressed confidence in forming an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen). “I am confident that the AIMIM will be with me. Even some other parties will ally with me. That’s for sure. In the coming days, we are going to hold meetings with them,” said Kabir, who had earlier said that JUP will contest in over 130 Assembly seats.
Last year, the AIMIM had said it would contest all the seats “with full force” in West Bengal, claiming that Muslim population in the state was well over 40 per cent.
In the 2012 Assembly polls, AIMIM had contested six seats and secured only 10,852 votes in total.
Meanwhile, Kabir said that his party will field candidates in Bhabanipur and Nandigram, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari traditionally contest.
Last week, after holding a yatra to mark the beginning of the construction work for a Babri replica mosque in Beldanga in Murshidabad, Kabir had said, “I will ensure that Mamata Banerjee loses elections, and the BJP also does not get to rule over Bengal. From the beginning, Mamata Banerjee and her administration kept posing problems in the building of the Babri Masjid along with some minority groups.”
His resolve to build a Babri Masjid-like mosque in Murshidabad had led to the suspension of 62-year-old TMC MLA last December. Kabir had started his political career with the Congress and rose to become an MLA, and later joined the TMC.
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