The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi, announced on 10 April 2026 that it was ending its electoral alliance with the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), the political outfit founded by former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Humayun Kabir, ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. The decision took immediate effect and was communicated through an official statement posted by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen on X.
Why did the AIMIM break its alliance with Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party before the West Bengal elections?
The collapse of the alliance followed the circulation of a purported 19-minute sting operation video released by the All India Trinamool Congress on 9 April 2026. The video, whose authenticity could not be independently verified by multiple news organisations, allegedly shows a person resembling Kabir in conversation with an unidentified individual. The figure in the video is purportedly heard claiming proximity with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The figure is additionally purportedly heard claiming contact with the Prime Minister’s Office and outlining a plan to redirect minority votes away from the ruling All India Trinamool Congress in order to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party. A funding arrangement totalling Rs 1,000 crore is also referenced, with the person in the video purportedly stating that Rs 200 crore had already been received as advance payment.
In its statement, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen said the content of the video had exposed the vulnerability of Muslims in West Bengal. The party said it could not associate with any statements that brought the integrity of Muslims into question and announced it would contest the West Bengal Assembly elections independently, with no alliances with any party going forward.
What did the Trinamool Congress allege and what action did it demand over the Humayun Kabir sting video?
The All India Trinamool Congress demanded an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate into the claims arising from the video. Firhad Hakim, the Trinamool Congress Minister serving as Kolkata Mayor, accused Kabir of working to mislead minority voters in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party and cautioned him against taking the sentiments of the minority community for granted.
How did Humayun Kabir respond to the sting video allegations ahead of West Bengal polls?
Humayun Kabir denied all allegations. Kabir stated the clip was artificially generated and politically motivated, accusing the All India Trinamool Congress of deploying fabricated content to protect its minority vote base. He said he would take legal action against Trinamool Congress leaders, including Kunal Ghosh and Firhad Hakim, and challenged the party to produce physical evidence of any meeting between himself and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. He stated he had had no contact with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders since November 2019. Kabir also announced his intention to file a case in the High Court, saying the judiciary would respond to the allegations.
What did Amit Shah and the BJP say about the Humayun Kabir sting video controversy in West Bengal?
The Bharatiya Janata Party also denied the claims. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking at the release of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal election manifesto in Kolkata on 10 April 2026, described Kabir and the Bharatiya Janata Party as being at opposite political poles, comparable to the South Pole and the North Pole. Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party would rather remain in the opposition for twenty years than align with anyone associated with the construction of a mosque modelled on the Babri Masjid in West Bengal. He attributed the credibility of the video to the Trinamool Congress, saying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was capable of producing two thousand such videos. West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukanta Majumdar described the controversy as cheap theatrics. Suvendu Adhikari described the video as likely artificially generated.
How did the AIMIM-AJUP alliance form and what was its electoral strategy in West Bengal 2026?
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party had announced their alliance on 25 March 2026 at a joint event in Kolkata. Owaisi had described Kabir as his younger brother at the time of the announcement. Twenty joint campaign rallies had been planned, with the first held in Berhampore on 1 April 2026. The alliance was designed to consolidate minority votes primarily in the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, and Uttar Dinajpur. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen confirmed it had fielded candidates in fourteen seats across West Bengal. Party leader Imran Solanki confirmed the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen would now contest eleven seats independently, nine of them in the first phase.
Kabir noted that the nomination deadline for both phases had already closed, meaning neither party could make fresh candidate arrangements regardless of the collapse of the alliance. He maintained confidence in the Aam Janata Unnayan Party’s prospects in constituencies including Raghunathganj, Suti, Naoda, and Lalbagh, and claimed his party was capable of winning close to 100 of West Bengal’s 294 seats.
Who is Humayun Kabir and why was he expelled from the Trinamool Congress before launching the Aam Janata Unnayan Party?
Humayun Kabir represents the Bharatpur constituency in Murshidabad district and served as a Minister of State in the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee following his move to the Trinamool Congress from the Indian National Congress around 2013. In December 2025, the Trinamool Congress expelled Kabir over allegations of anti-party activities and communal politics, specifically in connection with a proposal to construct a mosque in Murshidabad styled after the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. Kabir subsequently launched the Aam Janata Unnayan Party to contest the 2026 Assembly elections.
What does the AIMIM-AJUP split mean for minority vote consolidation in Murshidabad, Malda, and Uttar Dinajpur?
The timing of the video’s release, less than a fortnight before the first phase of voting, amplified its political impact. The three districts where the now-dissolved alliance was expected to be most active, Murshidabad, Malda, and Uttar Dinajpur, have historically returned significant proportions of Muslim voters and have been contested across election cycles by the Indian National Congress, the Left Front, and the Trinamool Congress. In 2021, the Trinamool Congress performed strongly in these districts despite broad Bharatiya Janata Party gains elsewhere in the state. The entry of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party in 2026 was seen by political observers as a potential source of vote fragmentation in constituencies where the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are in direct contest.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s presence in West Bengal elections has historically drawn the accusation that it draws minority votes away from larger secular formations, indirectly benefiting the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party has consistently rejected this characterisation, arguing that denial of independent political representation to Muslim communities is itself a democratic shortcoming. The party restated this position in its 10 April 2026 statement, describing Muslims in West Bengal as among the poorest and most neglected communities despite decades of governance under parties claiming a secular framework.
With the alliance dissolved and nomination windows closed, the electoral arithmetic in minority-dominated constituencies shifts in ways that neither party can now alter. The controversy has also introduced the question of artificial intelligence-generated content into the centre of an active state election campaign, with Kabir’s insistence that the video was digitally fabricated and his stated intention to pursue legal remedies through the courts representing a significant development in how contested digital material may be adjudicated during election periods in India.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, commenting separately from Mumbai, said that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s approach in West Bengal benefited the Bharatiya Janata Party and called on opposition leaders to maintain political unity.
West Bengal is scheduled to hold Assembly elections across 294 constituencies in two phases, on 23 April 2026 and 29 April 2026, with vote counting scheduled for 4 May 2026.
What this development means for West Bengal’s minority vote, the AIMIM’s strategy, and the 2026 Assembly election outcome
- The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ended its alliance with the Aam Janata Unnayan Party following the release of a purported video showing Humayun Kabir claiming a Rs 1,000 crore arrangement with the Bharatiya Janata Party to mislead Muslim voters in West Bengal.
- The All India Trinamool Congress released the video on 9 April 2026 and demanded an Enforcement Directorate probe. Both Kabir and the Bharatiya Janata Party denied the claims and described the video as artificially generated.
- The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will now contest eleven seats independently, nine in the first phase, while the Aam Janata Unnayan Party cannot make fresh candidate changes as nomination deadlines for both phases have already passed.
- The dissolution of the alliance in minority-dominant districts including Murshidabad, Malda, and Uttar Dinajpur alters the vote-split dynamic in constituencies where the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are directly competing.
- The controversy marks one of the more prominent instances in an Indian state election campaign of an artificial intelligence-generated content allegation being placed at the centre of active electoral dispute, with legal proceedings anticipated.
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