Humayun Kabir, the TMC MLA from Bharatpur in Murshidabad responded to the showcause notice served on him by the disciplinary committee of Bengal's ruling party, standing firm on his controversial comments against the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

Humayun justified his comments and refused to retract them in his reply, adding he did not say anything against the party.

The showcause notice was issued to him by Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, TMC veteran and the state agriculture minister, on March 13 following an instruction by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mamata had expressed her displeasure over the comments of two TMC members, Siddiqullah Chaudhury and Humayun Kabir, against Adhikari after his inflammatory comments against minority MLAs in the state Assembly, sources said.

“The chief minister asked Chaudhury to remain silent on the issue and asked Sovandeb Chattopadhyay to issue a show cause notice to Humayun soon after the cabinet meeting at Nabanna on Thursday,” said a source.

In reply to the showcause notice, Humayun gave a two-page reply on Saturday morning. In his response, Kabir stated that he did not regret his remarks and did not consider them a breach of discipline. He said he would not withdraw his comments.

"I was served a one-page showcause notice, and I have provided a two-page reply. I forwarded my response to the Whatsapp number from which the notice was sent,” Kabir said.

He alleged that the notice was based on only 31 seconds of footage from a video that was over 10 minutes long. “It is unfortunate that only 31 seconds of a 10-minute 29-second video was considered while issuing the showcause notice. I have explained the circumstances under which I made the statement. I have not apologised for my comments. The party will now decide its course of action,” said the MLA. "I did not make any comments against my party."

Kabir has a history of making controversial remarks that embarrassed his party in the past.

Trinamool had slapped a showcause notice on him for making anti-party statements in November last year. After the TMC fielded Yusuf Pathan, the former Indian cricketer, from Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 general elections, Kabir had taken jibes at his party leadership for fielding an “outsider” from the constituency.