Mamata Banerjee Annoyed With MLA Over Babri Mosque Proposal: Sources

Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is hugely annoyed with party MLA Humayun Kabir's proposal to build a Babri masjid replica in Murshidabad, sources have said. She and her party will not associate with the masjid move and this message has been communicated to the MLA, sources said.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Bengal minister Bratya Basu said: "The issue regarding MLA Humayun Kabir is being taken care of by the party leadership. The MLA is constantly switching his opinions. Tomorrow we are expecting him to attend the Chief Minister's programme in Baharampore".  

Banerjee will hold a rally at the India-Bangladesh border district Murshidabad on Thursday to protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. 

Sources said the party has invited Humayun Kabir, who represents the Bharatpur constituency and he is expected to join the rally. 

But on its eve, the MLA underscored his plan to lay the foundation stone of the Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad's Beldanga on December 6.

Sources said Bengal Governor Ananda Bose has questioned the state government that if Humayun Kabir's statements are creating a law-and-order problem, why he is not being arrested.

"The reports I have received from the field, intelligence agencies, and local opinion leaders indicate that someone is deliberately trying to turn Murshidabad into a hub of scandal. This will not be allowed," he said.

Pointing out that it is not merely a matter of building a place of worship, the Governor said if communal sentiments are stirred, the state and its government "will not remain mute spectators". 

The administration is already on high alert in Murshidabad. 

During her visit to Murshidabad on Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee held several rounds of meetings with administrative heads and district leaders, sources have said. 

The MLA does not have the mandatory police permission to hold the December 6 event. But the administration is not taking any chances, given Humayun Kabir's silence on the venue of the programme. 

A district leader of Trinamool Congress said the MLA's "entire drama" is pressure tactics to bargain for an election ticket from Murshidabad's Rejinagar seat. Earlier too, Humayun Kabir has put pressure on the party to get the seat of his choice but the situation is difficult this time, he added.