- Construction of a Babri Masjid replica began in Bengal's Murshidabad, led by ex-Trinamool MLA Humayun Kabir
- The mosque's construction is expected to be completed within two years, Kabir said
- Kabir's plan had sparked political tension ahead of Bengal's 2026 Assembly election
Construction of a replica of the Babri Masjid – a project driven by Humayun Kabir, the suspended Trinamool Congress leader – began Wednesday in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.
"The construction of the mosque is expected to be completed within two years. By the grace of Allah and with His blessings, our Babri Masjid will be built," Kabir said at the building site.
"To those who are opposing this, I would say 'step aside'. People are free to follow their own religions and build temples, churches, or whatever they wish. I won't oppose anyone in the name of Islam."
"My effort is for Islam to please Allah… it is not about imposing anything," he said.
Kabir kicked up a political storm in Bengal – which is scheduled to hold an Assembly election in March/April – after he announced plans to re-build the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya that was demolished by a right-wing mob in December 1992.
The announcement led to a 'temple vs mosque' battle of optics between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Trinamool responded to the Murshidabad Babri Masjid plan by suspending Kabir to underline its secular credentials.
'Mamata Banerjee will not be the Chief Minister after 2026 election', Kabir said (File).
Kabir responded by launching a broadside at his former boss and his own outfit – the Janata Unnayan Party, which he called a 'game-changer' in Bengali politics and said would contest 135 seats in the 2026 Bengal election, from a total of 249. The JUP will defeat the Trinamool, he said.
READ | "Will Work For Aam Aadmi": Suspended Trinamool MLA Launches Party
In a fierce attack that included jabs at the BJP, he acknowledged Banerjee's "unquestionable" leadership – the redoubtable Trinamool boss has guided her party to three electoral wins, i.e., two federal and one state – over the BJP but declared "she is no longer the same person I knew…"
RECAP | "No Longer The Person I Knew": Ex-Trinamool Leader On Mamata Banerjee
"In 2026, she will not become the Chief Minister and will not be sworn in… she will be branded as ex-Chief Minister," he said, hinting also that collusion with the BJP had allowed the latter's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to expand its Bengal footprints.
The Trinamool, though, played down, and even dismissed Kabir. Party spokesperson Jayprakash Majumdar claimed that such parties had been floated against Mamata Banerjee before and then sank into oblivion. "It is nothing more than a communal provocation," he said.
The BJP, meanwhile, called the row an attempt to create communal tensions and a "calculated" move by the Trinamool. It also claimed Kabir is working with the Trinamool and that his apparent discord is a ruse to split votes. "Kabir will not be a factor... He will face a drubbing with Trinamool, with which he is in touch in a clandestine manner," state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya claimed.
The JUP - expected to ally with Asaduddin Owaisi for the 2026 election, though Owaisi's AIMIM has not confirmed talks - will contest a total of 135 (of the state's 249) seats, Kabir told NDTV, and will work for the aam aadmi, i.e, including Muslims.
Muslims comprise a major vote bank for the Trinamool and the ruling party must now avoid losing those votes to Kabir (and Owaisi) while simultaneously blocking the BJP from making deeper inroads in the state, after it emerged as a stronger-than-ever force in the 2021 poll.
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