NEW DELHI: Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir on Friday said he would move to Dubai on a 10-year golden visa after completing the mosque he has promised to build in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, following his son’s crushing defeat in the Rejinagar bypoll.Kabir, the MLA from Nowda, said the mosque, modelled on the Babri Masjid, would be completed by December 6, 2028. Its foundation stone was laid in Rejinagar on December 6, 2025.“I will live in Dubai with a 10-year golden visa,” he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.His remarks came hours after BJP candidate Shankharavh Sarkar defeated Kabir’s son, Golam Nabi Azad, the AJUP nominee, by a margin of 75,816 votes in Rejinagar, a Muslim-majority constituency in Murshidabad district.The result marks a dramatic reversal for Kabir’s party. Azad had won the seat by nearly 59,000 votes in the West Bengal Assembly elections held barely five months ago, defeating his nearest BJP rival.Reacting to the bypoll outcome, Kabir alleged that the BJP’s victory was secured through the use of the police administration rather than public support. He accused Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who also holds the home portfolio, and Murshidabad district police officers of working to ensure the BJP candidate’s victory over the past two months.“This is not a people’s mandate; the police administration was used to ensure the victory of the BJP in the seat,” he asserted.The BJP’s victory in Rejinagar has drawn attention because of the constituency’s substantial Muslim electorate, which has traditionally played a significant role in the Trinamool Congress’s electoral fortunes in the state.
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Adhikari, however, claimed that the result reflected growing support for the BJP among minority voters. He said Muslims had responded to his appeal for political cooperation and rejected what he described as misleading narratives about the party.The chief minister also took a swipe at Kabir, arguing that his attacks on the BJP had alienated voters.The BJP’s breakthrough in Rejinagar came alongside a decisive victory in Nandigram, where its candidate Hasirani Rath defeated Congress nominee Milan Pradhan by 1,22,753 votes.The twin victories have provided the BJP with an opportunity to project its growing political reach in West Bengal, while the Rejinagar result poses a setback for Kabir’s AJUP.
