Lashing out at Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir for allegedly making provocative remarks, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday warned him against such “reckless statements” and said he will ensure the Nowda MLA “thinks 25 times” before making these remarks.
Speaking in the Assembly, Adhikari also said two criminal cases have been registered against Kabir at the Shaktipur and Rejinagar police stations.
“Our primary agenda is to restore the rule of law in this state. I will not allow you (Kabir) to make such reckless and unrestrained public statements ever again. I will not only make him withdraw his statements, but also ensure he thinks 25 times before making such remarks. I assure this House that this would be the last time he makes such comments in public,” Adhikari said.
After consultations with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shankar Ghosh and with the Speaker’s prior permission, the Chief Minister presented the House with a verbatim transcript of Kabir’s two recent speeches, in Shaktipur on June 8 and in Rejinagar on June 26, both in Murshidabad, and said “hooliganism will no longer be tolerated”.
“Enough is enough. The time has come to teach such elements a permanent lesson,” Adhikari said.
Taking a sharp dig at the Opposition bench, he added, “I am telling you clearly, Mamata Banerjee is no longer the Chief Minister. You got away with saying and doing whatever you wanted for so long because you had a weak Chief Minister. But that will no longer be tolerated.”
“Those apprehensive about whether the police will follow up on the cases registered, let me assure them that we will first pick up those who had invited Kabir to those meetings and then we will come for him,” Adhikari said.
According to sources, non-bailable criminal cases have been registered against Kabir for allegedly endangering sovereignty/integrity, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation, among other charges.
Kabir won both the Nowda and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies in Murshidabad district in the Assembly elections held earlier this year. He took oath as an MLA of Nowda, paving the way for a bypoll in Rejinagar.
Adhikari said that Kabir, who won two seats in the Assembly polls and gave up one, is making such “inflammatory statements to polarise voters as his son is likely to contest in the bypoll to the Rejinagar Assembly seat”.
“First, the MLA has failed in his attempts to break the elected panchayats of Bharatpur, Rejinagar, and Nowda and forcibly bring them over to his own party. Second, a bypoll is likely to be held in the Rejinagar seat within the next two to three months, and Kabir is desperate to ensure his son’s victory there. The Nowda MLA is playing this dangerous game to consolidate the 72 per cent Muslim vote in that area in his favour,” Adhikari said, adding, “I will visit Murshidabad within a week, and prove that no one is above the Constitution and the laws.”
Without taking any names, Adhikari also cited the examples of three TMC leaders who allegedly functioned as party strongmen but are now behind bars on criminal charges.
In an apparent reference to TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, Adhikari said, “There was a leader in Sandeshkhali, who in January 2024 stated he would skin the Opposition alive. Look where he has landed up now.”
“A similar language was used by a TMC leader from the Canning-Bhangar belt. He too has suffered the same fate,” he added, apparently referring to former TMC MLA Saokat Molla’s recent arrest by the NIA in connection with a blast in Bhangar.
Adhikari also referred to the arrest of TMC’s former Falta MLA Jahangir Khan. “The person who called himself ‘Pushpa’ is now being made to walk barefoot in his shorts. He is being made to do sit-ups holding his ears in police custody,” Adhikari said.
Reacting to Adhikari’s statements, Kabir said, “I never attacked the Chief Minister. I attacked the previous government and the TMC. He misunderstood my statement. If the people of Rejinagar, Nowda, Beldanga and elsewhere in Murshidabad are subjected to biased treatment from the current dispensation, then my fight will continue, and I am ready to be imprisoned.”
Addressing a public meeting in Rejinagar on June 27, Kabir had said, “I told (Chief Minister) Suvendu Adhikari, it is good that the BJP has won. But ask (your) party not to boast too much in Murshidabad.”
“If they (BJP workers) cross the limits, there will be trouble. Lakhs will hit the streets, and I will lead the community. We will beat them up. There will be no one left to hold the BJP flag here,” he said.
On June 8, Kabir had allegedly used abusive language against a police officer in Shaktipur after the arrest of his nephew. He had allegedly threatened to surround the police station and “drag the officer by the collar”.