Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, on Tuesday claimed that suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir was acting as a bridge between Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami and Mamata Banerjee on this side of the border.

With this, Adhikari opened a new front of political debate in poll-bound Bengal.

“Before the so-called Babri Masjid foundation ceremony and before forming a new party, Humayun Kabir spent seven days in Bangladesh. More than 50 per cent of the fund he received for Babri Masjid came from Bangladesh,” alleged Adhikari at the BJP’s Salt Lake office on Tuesday.

“Humayun Kabir is the bridge between Bangladesh’s Jamaat and Mamata Banerjee. I am calling not only upon Hindus but also nationalist Muslims to come forward, because this is a question of the security of the country and of Bengal,” the Nandigram MLA added.

Kabir, suspended by the Trinamool Congress before the Babri Masjid foundation ceremony, became the subject of discussion in Bengal politics after he formed the Janata Unnayan Party, his new political platform, and announced that he would contest the elections against both the ruling Trinamool and the BJP simultaneously in over 180 seats.

While Trinamool has repeatedly accused Kabir of acting as an agent of the BJP, citing his association with the party as a candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has alleged he is Trinamool's “B team”.

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya has repeatedly said that the Trinamool Congress and Humayun Kabir were synonymous.

A section of BJP insiders, however, believes that Kabir could eat into Muslim votes over which Mamata and the Trinamool Congress have enjoyed hegemony for the past 15 years.

Contacted, Kabir dismissed allegations of any Bangladesh connection and claimed his visit to Bangladesh was no secret as he had shared its photographs on social media.

He accused Adhikari of trying to consolidate Hindu voters by launching a baseless attack against him.

“Everyone knows about my trip to Bangladesh, as it was not a secret. Not seven days, I was in Bangladesh for 12 days. Suvendu Adhikari has been launching such baseless attacks because he understands that his dream of becoming the state’s chief minister will not be fulfilled this time either. He is trying to consolidate Hindu votes by accusing me in this way,” said Kabir.

“If I am the bridge between Jamaat and Mamata Banerjee, then why has Trinamool been attacking me, saying I am working as the BJP's agent? All these charges are baseless,” he added.

The Trinamool leadership raised questions about whether the equation between Adhikari and Kabir has soured, noting that the Nandigram MLA had earlier said that Kabir and the ISF would take care of Trinamool's Muslim vote bank.

“Suvendu Adhikari recently said that the BJP would get the Hindu votes and that Humayun Kabir and the ISF would take care of Trinamool's Muslim votes. Why has he suddenly started attacking Kabir now? Has the previous equation been disrupted?” asked Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty.

Surprise BJP joinee

Kasturi Goswami, the daughter of RSP leader and former Bengal minister Kshiti Goswami during the Left Front regime, joined the BJP on Tuesday in the presence of state unit president Samik Bhattacharya and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. Kasturi said she joined the BJP to actively participate in mainstream politics with renewed momentum. Her elder sister, Basundhara Goswami, is a Trinamool leader and a councillor in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. Besides Kasturi, former NSG staffer Dipanjan Chakraborty, retired CRPF officer Biplab Biswas and RSS activist Akshay Binjarajka also joined the party on Tuesday.