Kolkata, 10 December (H.S.):

Suspended Trinamool Congress legislator Humayun Kabir on Wednesday announced that his soon-to-be-launched political party will contest against both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly elections scheduled for next year.

“I have already stated that my party will field candidates from minority-dominated constituencies across the state, but it will remain completely secular in nature. I have decided to contest from Bhabanipur in Kolkata against the Chief Minister and from Nandigram against the Leader of the Opposition,” Kabir told reporters.

He further clarified that he is open to alliances with any political formation in the state, except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Kabir said his new political party will be formally launched on December 22, when he will also announce the names of its office-bearers. Although he did not confirm the name, sources indicated that the outfit is likely to be called the National Conservative Party.

Meanwhile, the “West Bengal Islamic Fund of India,” a trust set up to manage the proposed Babri Mosque project at Beldanga in Murshidabad district, has reportedly received over Rs 3 crore in donations. Of this, more than Rs 2.57 crore has been collected through online transactions using a QR code, while the rest has come in as cash contributions. The manual counting of cash donations is still underway, with six of the eleven trunks filled with cash counted so far.

The proposed mosque in Beldanga is planned to replicate the original Babri Mosque at Ayodhya, which was demolished on December 6, 1992. Kabir has already stated that the project cost will be Rs 300 crore, and the mosque complex will also include a school and a hospital on the adjoining land.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh