Humayun Kabir New Party and Its Impact on West Bengal Elections

Humayun Kabir, known for the Babri incident, announced his new party on his birthday. The party is called the Janata Unnayan Party, or JUP for short. The announcement of Humayun Kabir new party took place in Beldanga. However, Humayun Kabir did not make many other policy announcements. Instead, he released a list of a few candidates for 2026 assembly elections.

To show his commitment to secularism, he included two Hindu candidates. One is from Murshidabad, and the other is from Ballygunge.

Therefore, all these candidates will contest in the upcoming election under his party’s banner.

Humayun Kabir’s value of commitment

Humayun Kabir kept his word by announcing his new party. Earlier, despite many ups and downs, he laid the foundation stone of a mosque on 6 December, similar to the Babri structure. Perhaps the intense excitement and spontaneous public emotion that day affected his thinking, at least to some extent. However, although he had claimed that more than one lakh people would gather, eyewitnesses estimated the crowd at around 50,000 to 60,000.

In reality, public support or emotional backing based on religion becomes much weaker when it comes to forming a political party. So, now he faces the litmus test.

Attack on Mamata from Humayun Kabir new party

His new party reflects his resentment and emotional break with Mamata Banerjee. It is worthy mentioned that Humayun Trinamool Congress suspended Humayun Kabir just a couple of weeks ago. Therefore, it was expected that Mamata would be his main target. He threatened to remove Mamata Banerjee from power. He also challenged the Trinamool Congress and claimed he would completely uproot the party from Murshidabad district. Meanwhile, from the stage, he accused Mamata Banerjee of repeatedly misleading Muslims and failing to deliver real development. He also made a mild attack on Suvendu Adhikari, because Suvendu had once attacked Muslim MLAs. However, the main focus of his attack was clearly one person. That target was Mamata Banerjee, and no one else.

Sudden spotlight on Humayun Kabir new party

A few months ago, hardly anyone in Rejinagar or Murshidabad knew Humayun Kabir. Now, however, he is trying to project himself as a mass leader. He has claimed that his new party will win at least 100 seats. He has also said that he will become a kingmaker. However, he did not clearly say how many seats his party will actually contest. At the same time, he kept the possibility of an alliance with other parties open. Therefore, for now, everything remains uncertain and lies in the future.

TMC and BJP Reactions to Humayun Kabir New Party

Although the Trinamool Congress does not want to give it much importance, Mamata Banerjee has explained it differently. She described it as a BJP conspiracy to split Muslim votes. However, the BJP sees Humayun Kabir’s new party as a move by the Trinamool Congress itself. According to them, the party will act as a Trinamool agent. Therefore, the BJP has claimed that this new party will not have any real impact on the election.

Humayun Kabir’s Political Past and the Credibility Question

Over time, he has earned the label of a frequent party-hopper. First, he stayed with the Congress for a long period. Later, he joined the Trinamool Congress. After Trinamool suspended him, he contested as an independent candidate and lost. Then he returned to the Congress again. Just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he joined the BJP. In that election, he finished third in the Murshidabad seat. After that, he went back to the Trinamool Congress. As a result, such repeated party switching has pushed his political credibility to a very low level.

Candidate List and Questions Over Organizational Strength

However, at today’s event for Humayun’s new party, several defectors and disgruntled Trinamool leaders were present. Among them were a few well-known faces. Before relying on the organizational strength of expelled, defected, or disgruntled leaders, one must first put it to the test. In today’s candidate list, he included seats from Murshidabad. At the same time, he also named candidates from Malda and Uttar Dinajpur. He even included a Kolkata constituency. However, it is unclear how a party formed today has already built an organization in Kolkata. It is worth noting that Prashant Kishor received a good response from women voters in Bihar through his new party. Yet, he returned empty-handed in the election.

Religious Mobilization vs Electoral Reality

Therefore, there is a big gap between religious excitement around the Babri mosque and actual vote numbers. The sooner Humayun Kabir realizes this about his new party, the better it will be for him.