‘Sends wrong message’: Humayun Kabir drops Ballygunge candidate within 24 hours over ‘vulgar’ social media posts
Nisha Chatterjee said she was “facing social embarrassment” due to the episode and may take legal action.
Nisha Chatterjee on Tuesday was dropped as the Janata Unnayan Party (JUP) candidate from Ballygunge for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, with party founder Humayun Kabir citing her social media photos and videos as not going well with the party’s image.
Kabir, who was suspended earlier this month by the Trinamool Congress over his plan to build a Babri-style mosque in Murshidabad, had launched the Janata Unnayan Party just a day earlier and announced candidates for eight seats, including Ballygunge in south Kolkata.
“I have seen some of Nisha’s photos and reels on social media, and after seeing those, I feel she should not be the candidate of our party. It will send a wrong message to the people. I have every right to take this decision,” Kabir said, PTI reported.
He added that a new female candidate would be named for the Ballygunge seat, indicating that she could be a Muslim.
Also Read | Suspended TMC leader launches new party days after laying foundation for Babri-modelled mosque in Bengal
Chatterjee's allegations: ‘Dropped because Hindu’
Chatterjee, however, alleged that she was dropped because she is a Hindu.
“Suddenly, there are discussions about my videos. People around me are saying all kinds of things. Humayun ‘kaku’ (uncle) had initially asked me to be a candidate, and that is how I became one. Now, he is saying different things, casting aspersion on me,” she said.
“I have been dropped because I am a Hindu. If his party was secular, would this have happened? I stood by his Babri Masjid plan. Then why did he do this to me?” she asked.
Chatterjee said she was “facing social embarrassment” due to the episode and may take legal action.
The TMC had suspended Kabir, the MLA from Bharatpur, on December 4 after his announcement to build a Babri-style mosque sparked a major controversy.
On December 6, the anniversary of the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Kabir went ahead and laid the foundation stone for the mosque at Rejinagar, triggering fresh political turmoil in the state with Assembly elections due in less than six months.
