Humayun Kabir talks of Rs 1,000 crore deal with BJP…conspiracy to oust Mamata exposed: TMC

Kabir, who formed AJUP after he was suspended by the TMC for going ahead with his plans to build a Babri-like mosque in Murshidabad district, said the video was “AI-generated”.

In the purported video, Kabir is allegedly heard saying that he is willing to go to “any extent” to unseat Mamata Banerjee and has been in touch with senior BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari.

In the video, Kabir is allegedly heard saying that he has received Rs 200 crore as an advance of a Rs 1,000 crore deal to execute the plan.

“This video exposes Humayun Kabir, where he said he is getting Rs 1,000 crore, and PMO is also included in this. We want to know which PMO official he is talking about. Everyone needs to be identified, and we need an investigation. ED should issue an official notice to Humayun Kabir. He must be interrogated. ED probes money trail. Here, money is involved. ED must probe this,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

“This video is an example of the various ways the BJP is carrying out electoral manipulation. The BJP is creating B teams and C teams to split the votes. They are using people like Humayun Kabir to divide the Muslim vote,” Ghosh added.

In the purported video, Humayun is allegedly heard saying, “Muslims are very innocent. It is very easy to fool them… I want to remove Mamata at any cost. I have spoken to Suvendu Adhikari, who said he would introduce me to central leadership in Delhi. I have also been in touch with the PMO.”

“I had a conversation with the (Leader of Opposition) Suvendu Adhikari. They asked me to go to Delhi. Assam CM (Himanta Biswa Sarma) will be in charge of this. The BJP could go to 100-120 but they cannot reach the magic figure now… ‘If we come to power, then you will be offered the post of Deputy CM,’ I was assured,” Kabir is heard saying.

In a scathing attack on Kabir, TMC minister Firhad Hakim said, “He is trading emotions in the name of the masjid. He is demanding a thousand crore rupees and asking for an advance of Rs 300 crore. Are we, the people of the Muslim community, so brainless that we will remain silent while someone sells our religious sentiments? I leave this question to the Muslim community.”

Hakim also hit out at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has formed an electoral alliance with Kabir’s AJUP.

“This is shameful. It is evident in the video how religious sentiments are being used to buy and sell votes! When the BJP failed to stop TMC even through central agencies, SIR, they resorted to triggering religious emotions from behind the scenes. They are playing a dirty game by using a palturam (turncoat) leader and another leader from Hyderabad (Owaisi). I strongly condemn this manipulation of the religious sentiments of the Muslim community,” Hakim, who is TMC’s most prominent Muslim face, said.

The TMC leader also hit out at the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Assam, Mohan Yadav and Himanta Biswa Sarma, whose names appear in the video clip.

Asked who shot the video, Hakim said, “That is not important. What he (Kabir) said and his demand to be made deputy chief minister in the event of the BJP coming to power is important.” “We demand a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into the issue.”

Meanwhile, Kabir described the video as a “pack of lies”, and claimed it was “AI-generated”.

He also threatened to file defamation cases against TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of the party.

“It is an attempt to malign me by the TMC, who are afraid to lose the vote of Muslims. They have insulted the community by launching such a fake video, which made light of Muslims’ sentiments by putting certain statements through AI,” PTI quoted Kabir as saying.

BJP spokesperson Debajit Sarkar called it TMC’s “cheap theatrics”. “While the TMC knows that they are losing ground, there is a possibility that they have a nexus with Kabir, and this is part of a got-up game to cut the BJP’s share of votes,” Sarkar said.

(With PTI)