Humayun Kabir Drops Influencer Over "Reels", She Says "Because Im Hindu"

Kabir was suspended this month over disagreements with the Trinamool leadership, including the building of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad, and, incensed, he launched his own party.

24 Dec 2025, 07:28 · www.ndtv.com

Kolkata:

Humayun Kabir - the suspended Trinamool Congress MLA who has declared 'war' on party boss Mamata Banerjee and launched his own outfit, the Janata Unnayan Party before next year's Bengal election - has dropped social media influencer Nisha Chatterjee from a list of his provisional candidates.

Kabir had named Chatterjee as the JUP nominee for Ballygunge, a constituency that has been dominated by the ruling Trinamool since 2006 and is now held by singer-politician Babul Supriyo.

However, hours after he did so, Kabir backtracked.

"I have seen some of Nisha's photos and reels on social media... I feel she should not be our candidate. It will send a wrong message to the people. I have every right to take this decision."

A new candidate - a woman again - will be named shortly, he said, hinting that this candidate, like all the others his party has announced so far, might also be from the Muslim community.

Chatterjee, meanwhile, has alleged she was dropped because of her religion.

"Suddenly, there are 'discussions' about my videos. Humayun 'kaku' (uncle) asked me to be a candidate...now, he is saying different things (and) casting aspersion on me," she said.

"I have been dropped because I am a Hindu. If his party was secular, would this have happened? I stood by his Babri Masjid plan. Then why did he do this to me?" Chatterjee raged.

Kabir was suspended this month over disagreements with the Trinamool leadership, including the building of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad, construction of which triggered a 'temple vs mosque' Trinamool vs BJP war of optics; a spat fuelled by the BJP criticising the state's plan to build temples.

READ | "No Longer The Person I Knew": Ex Trinamool Leader On Mamata

Burning, so it seems, all bridges with the Trinamool, Kabir then declared he would launch his own party and ensure that neither Mamata Banerjee nor the BJP could win power in Bengal.

On Monday he launched that party.

READ | "Will Work For Aam Aadmi": Suspended Trinamool MLA Launches Party

The JUP, he said, will contest 135 (of the state's 249) seats, he told NDTV, and will work for the aam aadmi, i.e, including Muslims. Kabir also offered a sarcastic reply to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comment about a "political conspiracy". "There will be 70 Muslim MLAs..." Kabir declared.

The Trinamool has played down, and even dismissed, Kabir and his party.

Party spokesperson Jayprakash Majumdar said such parties had been floated before and then sunk into oblivion. "It is nothing more than a communal provocation," he said.

The BJP, meanwhile, has claimed Kabir is working with the Trinamool, that his apparent discord with the party is a ruse to spirit votes away from the saffron party. "Kabir will not be a factor... He will face the drubbing of the electorate along with his old friend TMC, with which he is still in touch in a clandestine manner," state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya claimed.

With input from agencies

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