Bengal polls: AIMIM snaps ties with Kabir after 'deal' video; Shah denies BJP link, AJUP to go solo

KOLKATA: The fledgling alliance between Humayun Kabir's Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM collapsed on Friday, barely a fortnight after it was stitched, after a purported video surfaced in which a person resembling Kabir was allegedly heard talking of a multi-crore deal with the BJP to dislodge TMC.

As the controversy exploded, Union Home Minister Amit Shah rejected suggestions of any BJP link with Kabir, saying the suspended TMC leader and the BJP were "like the North Pole and the South Pole" and could never be together.

Kabir, for his part, insisted that AIMIM's decision to snap ties would have no bearing on his party's prospects and declared that AJUP would now fight the assembly polls alone.

"I did not build my party depending on Owaisi. The fight I have started will continue, and I will not step back," Kabir said during a live interaction on social media.

The break-up came after AIMIM announced on X that it was withdrawing from its alliance with Kabir's party and would contest the West Bengal elections independently."

"Humayun Kabir's revelations have shown how vulnerable Bengal's Muslims are. AIMIM cannot associate with any statements where the integrity of Muslims is brought into question," the party said.

"As of today, AIMIM has withdrawn its alliance with Kabir's party. We will be contesting the Bengal elections independently and will have no alliance with any party going forward," the post added.

The statement amounted to a stunning collapse of an understanding that Owaisi and Kabir had unveiled with much fanfare in Kolkata on March 25, projecting it as a new political platform for Muslims disillusioned with both the TMC and the Left-Congress combine.

At that time, Owaisi had described Kabir as his "younger brother" and said AIMIM was not seeking many seats in Bengal but had come to stand by him. Kabir had responded by calling the Hyderabad MP his "elder brother" and announced plans for 20 joint rallies across the state.

The first of those rallies was held in Berhampore on April 1. The last one was supposed to be organised in Kolkata. Instead, the alliance ended before it could get off the ground.

The immediate trigger was a purported 19-minute video circulated by the TMC on Thursday, which it claimed showed Kabir speaking of a secret understanding with the BJP.

In the video, whose authenticity PTI could not independently verify, a person resembling Kabir was purportedly heard claiming proximity with Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The figure was also heard saying he was prepared to go to "any extent" to remove Mamata Banerjee from power and had received Rs 200 crore in advance as part of a larger Rs 1,000 crore arrangement.

The TMC used the video to allege that Kabir's anti-Mamata plank and his attempt to forge a Muslim political front were in fact part of a covert BJP design to split minority votes in key districts such as Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Birbhum.

The BJP moved swiftly to distance itself from Kabir.

Addressing a press conference after releasing the BJP's manifesto for the Bengal polls, Shah dismissed any BJP link with the video and accused Mamata Banerjee's party of manufacturing political conspiracies.

"You do not know Mamata Banerjee's capabilities. She can make 2,000 such videos. Humayun Kabir and the BJP are like the North Pole and the South Pole. We can never be together," Shah said.

"We would rather sit in the opposition for 20 years than sit with those who talk about building a Babri Masjid in Bengal," he added.

Kabir, too, denied the allegations and described the video as fabricated and generated through artificial intelligence.

"I have not entered into any agreement with anyone. The clip circulated by the Trinamool Congress does not show who was sitting across from me or in what context the remarks were made," he said.

He also sought to turn the tables on the ruling party by invoking the Narada sting case.

"Firhad Hakim and Sougata Roy were seen taking money in the Narada videos. What happened to that case?" he asked.

Kabir had on Thursday threatened to move court against TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and minister Firhad Hakim if they failed to substantiate the allegation of a multi-crore deal.

Even as he dismissed the controversy, Kabir made it clear that he had no intention of retreating from the electoral battle.

"I was born alone and will fight alone. I will not retreat from the battle I have begun," he said.

He claimed AJUP would contest 182 seats and insisted that his movement was not dependent on any larger party.

On the now-defunct alliance, Kabir said he had initially agreed to leave two seats in Murshidabad for AIMIM and later conceded two more after Owaisi requested additional space.

He nevertheless maintained that AJUP remained strong in Muslim-majority pockets and claimed his party could emerge victorious in constituencies such as Raghunathganj, Suti, Naoda and Lalbagh.

Kabir claimed that AJUP could win nearly 100 of Bengal's 294 seats.

AIMIM, meanwhile, indicated that it would now press ahead on its own. Its leader Imran Solanki said the party would contest 11 seats, nine of them in the first phase itself.

"Bengal's Muslims are one of the poorest, neglected and oppressed communities. Despite decades of secular rule, nothing has been done for them," AIMIM said in its statement.

"Our policy is to ensure that marginalised communities have an independent political voice," it added.