Humayun Kabir accuses Mamata of purchasing candidates

Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir on Thursday alleged the ruling Trinamool Congress bribed several of his party candidates to keep them out of the poll fray.

Kabir, who cast his vote during the early hours of polling, was met with protests from Trinamool Congress supporters who raised “go back” slogans when the leader visited a polling booth in Shibnagar village in Murshidabad’s Naoda assembly constituency.

The protesters, led by local TMC leaders, surrounded Kabir’s vehicle and raised slogans while branding him a



“BJP agent”. The demonstration sparked tension in the area around the polling station.

Kabir, an MLA from Murshidabad’s Bharatpur, who has now formed his own party and is seeking re-election, was suspended from the TMC in December last year after he proposed the construction of a Babri-like mosque.

AJUP activists alleged that members of the ruling party roughed up one of their booth-level presidents at his house.

Central forces deployed at the spot intervened and brought the situation under control, officials said.