The Trinamool on Thursday shared a video of a person resembling the Aam Janata Unnayan Party leader Humayun Kabir demanding Rs.1,000 crore from the BJP for the Bengal Assembly polls in lieu of support post-elections.

“BJP can get around 100 to 110 or 120 seats. BJP will not get 148 seats. Every time I had a discussion with Suvendu Adhikari, I told him the same and he agreed with me. I have been told if I can get 70-80 seats, I will be the deputy chief minister,” the person resembling Kabir is heard telling a man (not seen on camera) during the 19-minute conversation.

The man resembling Kabir named at least two BJP chief ministers, the leader of Opposition in the outgoing Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and an unnamed person in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The video, called ‘The Reality of HK’, was published on a YouTube channel on Wednesday.

The unidentified man is heard asking that to achieve the purpose (of drawing the Muslim voters) the Muslim electors in Bengal need to be “gumraah” (mislead).

“I told him, I also told Suvendu I need money. To bring the Muslim voters to my side I have to spend around Rs. 3-4 crore. The Trinamool does not give much money [to the contestants]. The candidates I field will be educated ones. It is important to bring Muslim candidates forward. But I need money,” the person resembling Kabir is heard saying.

The person resembling Kabir is heard demanding Rs 1,000 crore of which Rs. 300 crore shpuld be as advance to spend among the electorate before the polls as “it was done in Bihar.”

“Aap mujhe ek hazaar karod degi to aap ko poora fayda hoga. Mera seat to sattar-assi hogi. Aap ka seat 100-120 tak jaayegi. To Mamata Banerjee 100 ke neeche aaayegi. To main saaf saaf chunav ke baad logon ko samjhayunga Centre mein BJP hai. Tin terms jo Mamata Banerjee tha koi development nahin hua Mussalmanon ke liye… saara yeh Mussalman mera upar poora bharosa hai [If you give me Rs 1,000 crore you will benefit. I will get 70-80 seats, you will get around 100-120. Mamata Banerjee’s seats will come down to less than 100. After the polls I will tell my people, the BJP is in power in the Centre. In the three terms that Mamata Banerjee was chief minister there has been no development for the Muslim community… all the Muslims have full faith in me],” the man resembling Kabir is heard saying.

Kabir later claimed the video was created by artificial intelligence.

“Let them give evidence of any meeting I had with any BJP leaders anywhere. The Trinamool scared that the Muslim voters have moved away from the party. The Trinamool scared of my rising popularity. If they cannot prove I will file case against Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek

Banerjee, Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas,” Kabir told mediapersons.

The Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said the Trinamool should go to court.

“Why don’t they go to the courts? Let there be a probe. Humayun and others who have orchestrated this will be behind the bars. This is a doctored video and we will take legal steps,” Sarkar said in a news conference in Kolkata.

Kabir, who made a career in politics hopping parties, was suspended by the Trinamool in 2025 over his declaration of building a Babri Masjid in Murshidabad’s Beldanga.

The man resembling Kabir is heard saying in the video that he gave the call for constructing the mosque named after the demolished one in Ayodhya to garner the minority community around him.

The purported video brought back memories from a decade ago, when persons resembling at least 12 Trinamool MPs, ministers, MLAs and an IPS officer were caught on camera accepting money from a “businessman.” The Bengal BJP had shared that video at its state party headquarters just days before the state went to polls.

Known as the Narada sting operation – the issue entered Bengal’s political discourse – spoken together with the chit fund scam Saradha- but had little electoral impact.

The Trinamool Congress demanded a thorough probe into the video, the authenticity of which has not been verified by The Telegraph Online.

Calls to Humayun Kabir went unanswered. The state BJP leaders are yet to respond to the claims made in the video and the Trinamool’s allegations.

“Are we fools that anyone can play with our religious sentiments?” asked Firhad Hakim, minister, Kolkata mayor and also the Trinamool nominee from the Kolkata Port seat. “I know this person. I had announced his suspension from this very place. Muslims of Bengals should not be considered as fools.”

Trinamool spokesperson and Beleghata nominee Kunal Ghosh said the central agencies should probe all the people named in the video.

“Who is the officer in the PMO who is involved in these shady deals? This man should be interrogated immediately. What role did the other leaders named have played? From where is this man getting funds to hire choppers for his campaign?” asked Ghosh.

Kabir’s party has entered into an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and has fielded candidates in over 100 of Bengal's 294 Assembly seats.