NEW DELHI: Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AUUP) chief Humayun Kabir on Wednesday hinted at quitting electoral politics a day after his arrest following a confrontation with police during the Rejinagar bypoll, and claimed that the ruling BJP would win the Muslim-majority seat by “looting people’s mandate.“Kabir also announced that he would stay away from the state asembly as long as Suvendu Adhikari remained chief minister.“If Suvendu Adhikari remains the chief minister, I will not go to the asembly. I will seek forgiveness from the people of Naoda,” Kabir told reporters, referring to his Assembly constituency, while fighting back tears.“The BJP will win Rejinagar. But this is not the people’s verdict. The police and administration have stolen the election,” he added.His remarks came a day after high-voltage polling in Rejinagar, where he was arrested following a confrontation with police outside his party office. The MLA was released after nearly 12 hours in custody.The arrest was the most dramatic episode of polling in Rejinagar, where Kabir’s son, Golam Nabi Azad, was the AJUP candidate.Kabir also claimed that Adhikari had assured him months ago that his son would win the seat by around 30,000 votes, saying he now felt betrayed.“When I had met Adhikari a few months ago, he had told me that my son would win, not by the massive margin I had got earlier but by around 30,000 votes. I did not say anything then. But, today I feel betrayed,” he stated.The bypoll result is due on October 9.
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Kabir had won both Naoda and Rejinagar in the West Bengal Aasembly elections and subsequently retained Naoda, vacating Rejinagar, triggering the bypoll.The 62-year-old politician began his political career with the Congress, moved to the TMC in 2012 and became a minister, briefly joined the BJP, unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and returned to the Trinamool Congress before the 2021 elections. After a series of public disagreements with the TMC leadership, he was expelled from the party in December last year.He subsequently floated the AJUP ahead of the assembly polls and contested from two constituencies in Murshidabad, winning both. Though AJUP secured only two seats, both won by Kabir, its entry into the electoral fray was significant in Muslim-majority constituencies, where it sought to draw support away from the TMC.Kabir had also courted controversy over his proposal to build a mosque in Murshidabad modelled on the demolished Babri Masjid, drawing criticism from political opponents.(With PTI inputs)
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