TMC MLA Invites Opposition MLA to His Babri Masjid Event
I have invited Mr Siddiqui to the ceremony because he is also religious. We will attend this event not as MLAs but as devout Muslims.
Berhampore: Controversial Trinamul Congress MLA from Bharatpur in Murshidabad of West, Humayun Kabir, who has threatened to launch a new outfit for minorities on December 22, has stumped his party again.
This time he has invited a young opposition legislator, Naushad Siddiqui, to the foundation stone laying of his proposed Babri Masjid in the district on December 6 to mark the anniversary of demolition of the original one that once existed at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Siddiqui was elected an MLA for the first time from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas in the 2021 Assembly Election on a ticket of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), an outfit founded by his brother and Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui. He is also the only Muslim opposition legislator in the state.
Mr Kabir said, “On December 6, I will lay the foundation stone of the proposed Babri Masjid at Beldanga as declared earlier. I have invited Mr Siddiqui to the ceremony because he is also religious. We will attend this event not as MLAs but as devout Muslims.”
He added, “Since the event has been planned long back, it is not possible for me to attend the Babri Masjid solidarity rally by TMC in Kolkata. I have already promised to attend my programme along with the Muslim clergy.”
Though Mr Siddiqui is yet to react to Mr Kabir's invitation, political circles have become curious if they would see the ruling and opposition legislators sharing the same dais at a religious event ahead of the Assembly polls.