Kolkata:

West Bengal BJP’s Murshidabad unit has announced plans to construct a Ram temple in Berhampore, days after TMC MLA Humayun Kabir proposed to set up a mosque modelled after the Babri Masjid at Beldanga in the same district.

The BJP said the temple’s construction will begin on January 22, 2025, exactly one year after the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

BJP’s Berhampore organisational district president, Shakharav Sarkar, said land for the temple has already been identified, and the project is estimated to cost Rs 10 crore.

“We have already identified a land in Beharampore area and the construction work for the Ram Temple based on the design of the temple on Ayodhya will begin soon,” he told reporters.

Kabir, the TMC MLA from Beldanga, had on Tuesday announced plans for the mosque, which he said would honour the sentiments of the region’s significant minority population.

His remarks have sparked political controversy, with opposition parties accusing him of attempting to polarise communities for political gain.

The BJP’s counterproposal to build a Ram temple is seen as a strategic move to strengthen its presence among the Hindu community in Murshidabad, a district where minorities make up around 75 per cent of the population.

Responding to the controversy, the TMC distanced itself from Kabir’s remarks, describing them as his personal opinion.

“The TMC has nothing to do with this statement of Kabir,” a senior party leader said.

Kabir’s announcement has also drawn criticism from the Congress, which accused him of playing divisive politics in a sensitive region. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Election Commission on Saturday censured TMC leader Humayun Kabir for allegedly threatening voters and rival party workers through statements based on religious lines.

Responding to a show-cause notice issued to him on the matter, Mr Kabir had defended himself and said his remarks were deliberately taken in isolation to make it seem as a threat and a violation of the model code of conduct.

While delivering a speech in the Kazipara area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader had threatened the voters and the workers of rival parties and the Election Commission believed that his remarks sought to create religious divide.

According to the English transcript provided by the Election Commission, Mr Kabir had said, “If you think that 30 per cent people reside in Murshidabad and you constitute the 70 per cent … if you think as you constitute the major chunk of the population in Kamnagar, so you are entitled to demolish the mosque in Kajipara and the Muslim brethren in the rest of the area will sit idle, you are mistaken. I am warning the BJP that it wont happen ever.” 

The poll panel reminded the TMC legislator of the poll code provision, which states that no party or candidate will indulge in any activity that may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.

The poll authority said it is convinced that he made the statement and thus violated the provisions of the model code of conduct.

Dubbing his remarks as misconduct, the commission “strongly condemned” and censured him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)