On Thursday (July 29), Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Humayun Kabir sparked a controversy after he threatened fellow party legislator Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with physical harm. He had issued the threats during a party meeting at Shaktipur in the Rezinagar Vidhan Sabha constituency of West Bengal.
While addressing the party workers, Kabir warned, “Akhankar jini nirbachito vidhyak, amar songe panga nite ela, tomar hadgor sob ek jaigai kore debo (If the elected representative of the area tries to pick up a fight with me, then, I will break his bones).” He further instructed Chowdhury to treat the TMC workers with respect, else he would permanently stop his entry to Shaktipur.
Responding to the threats, Chowdhury said that he did not want to encourage the confrontation further by commenting on the matter. However, he added, “A dog might bite a man but he wouldn’t bite the dog (referring to Humayun Kabir). I only work according to the instructions given to me by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.” ABP Ananda reported that the feud between the two dates back to 2012 when Chowdhury defeated Kabir in by-elections. Again in 2016, Kabir lost out to Chowdhury as an independent candidate during elections.
Humayun Kabir issued show-cause notice by TMC disciplinary committee
Even after Humayun Kabir was made the TMC candidate of the Bharatpur Vidhan Sabha constituency, his conflict with the Rezinagar MLA Rabiul Alam Chowdhury did not stop. Abu Tahir, TMC President (Murshidabad district), said, “The comments made by Humayun were not appropriate. If he had issues, he should have discussed within the party and not in public.” However, the strongest response to Kabir’s threats came from the high echelons of the party.
While speaking about the matter, TMC General Secretary Partha Chatterjee informed that a show-cause notice has been issued to the Bharatpur MLA. He has been asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him. “The behaviour and language he used about other MLAs in the party are not justifiable. He personally targetted Rezinagar MLA Rabiul Alam Chowdhury… The party does not approve of this,” he emphasised.
