Bengal MLA Humayun Kabir floats new party days after laying foundation for Babri-style mosque
Beldanga (WB), Dec 22 (PTI): West Bengal MLA Humayun Kabir on Monday floated a new outfit, Janata Unnayan Party, days after he was suspended by the TMC for laying the foundation stone for a Babri-style mosque in Murshidabad district.
Addressing a public meeting in Beladanga, Kabir named eight candidates that his new party will field in the 2026 assembly elections in the state.
Kabir, the MLA of Bharatpur, said he would contest the assembly polls from two seats, Rejinagar and Beldanga in Murshidabad.
"We can only tell you later how many seats we will be finally contesting," he told the gathering.
Kabir said his mission is to oust Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from power in the assembly polls, which will be due in less than six months.
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"Mamata Banerjee is no longer the same person I knew. She is beyond the reach of the common man," he alleged.
The BJP alleged Kabir was working to help the TMC return to power.
"Kabir will not be a factor in the next assembly polls. 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. Both Kabir and his new party will be rejected by the people of Bengal," state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya claimed.
He claimed Kabir was attempting to split "BJP votes" in the assembly polls.
"In the wake of the situation in Bangladesh, people of Bengal will thwart Kabir's attempts and elect a strong nationalist force like the BJP, only which can defeat fundamentalists," he claimed.
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The TMC is yet to comment on Kabir's new party.
The TMC had suspended Kabir on December 4 after his announcement to build a Babri-style mosque triggered a massive row.
On December 6, the day the Babri Masjid was razed in Ayodhya in 1992, a defiant Kabir laid the foundation stone for the mosque at Rejinagar.
Kabir has had a tryst with most of the major political parties in the state over the last 10 years.
In 2015, he was "expelled" by the TMC for six years for criticising the CM and alleging that she was trying to make her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, the "king".
He contested the 2016 assembly elections as an Independent from the Rejinagar seat, but lost to Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury. He subsequently joined the Congress, which then had a huge presence in the district, but switched to the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP fielded him as its candidate in the Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, and managed to secure the third spot after the TMC and Congress nominees. He then returned to the TMC and, in 2021, became the MLA of Bharatpur.
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Delhi man arrested for running online racket selling counterfeit Ayurvedic products
Tumakuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Police on Thursday announced the arrest of a 56-year-old man from Delhi for allegedly manufacturing and selling counterfeit weight loss powder and spurious Ayurvedic products via e-commerce platforms using duplicate branding.
The accused, identified as Rajeev Khanna, had been operating the business for around one-and-a-half years, police said.
His sons, Himanshu (29) and Manan Khanna (25), have also been named in the case for allegedly assisting their father in running the racket in Delhi. Both are absconding.
The matter came to light after Dhanalakshmi, owner of Jeeni Company in Yaragunte village, Tumakuru district, filed a complaint at Kallambella Police Station on August 14, 2025, police said.
According to the complaint, R K Traders of Delhi was misusing the trademark of Jeeni Company and selling products online under the same brand name.
She also warned that the sale of such counterfeit products could pose health risks to the public, including children.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Rajeev Khanna under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“During the investigation, the team traced the warehouse where the accused was manufacturing counterfeit products. On March 27, police conducted a raid at a godown in Punjabi Mohalla, Shalimar Bagh area of New Delhi,” Tumakuru Superintendent of Police Ashok K V said in a statement.
During the raid, police recovered counterfeit Jeeni Company products, duplicate Ayurvedic tablets, beauty creams, and Ayurvedic powders commonly used by the public.
The accused was allegedly manufacturing and selling these products through R K Traders, M K Traders, and MHK Traders on e-commerce platforms without required safety precautions or regulatory approvals, the SP added.
The matter was also reported to the Drug Controller in Delhi and the local Shalimar Bagh Police authorities.
“With the assistance of his sons, Himanshu and Manan Khanna, along with others, the accused was manufacturing counterfeit products and selling them online for financial gain,” the SP said.
Police said Rajeev Khanna is believed to have cheated Jeeni Company of over Rs 15 lakh and caused losses worth crores of rupees to other companies.
On March 28, Rajeev Khanna was taken into custody in Delhi and brought to Kallambella Police Station, where he was formally arrested. He was later produced before the Sira court and taken into police custody for further investigation, the SP added.
During interrogation, the accused admitted to filling wheat flour into containers and selling them as “Jeeni Slim Powder” with duplicated labels and packaging.
He also confessed to selling wheat flour in containers labelled as genuine Ayurvedic tablets and powders, police said.
