"We would sit in opposition for 20 years instead", Amit Shah tells Taaza TV over Humayun sting row

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing the media during the release of the BJP's election manifesto in Kolkata on Friday, strongly denied any links between the Bharatiya Janata Party and former TMC leader Humayun Kabir. Responding to the "sting video" question by Taaza TV, which was released by the Trinamool Congress, Shah adopted an aggressive stance, making it clear that the BJP would never align with someone whose ideologies are fundamentally opposed to the party's core values. He stated that the BJP is a party of principles and does not require "conspiracies" to win elections in Bengal.

Addressing the specific claims in the video about the BJP funding Kabir's party, Shah remarked, "We would prefer to sit in the opposition for 20 years rather than join hands with someone like Humayun Kabir." He took a direct swipe at Kabir’s past controversial project of building a mosque modeled after the Babri Masjid, asserting that the BJP has no contact with anyone involved in such activities. Shah framed the entire controversy as a desperate attempt by the TMC to create confusion among voters ahead of the April 23 polls.

Shah further questioned the credibility of the video, suggesting that the Trinamool Congress is well-versed in the "art of video-making" and has the resources to produce such content to malign its opponents. He alleged that the TMC is "unmatched in its power" to orchestrate such narratives when it feels its minority vote bank is slipping away. By labeling the video a fabricated tool of the ruling party, the Home Minister sought to distance the BJP from the ongoing fallout between Kabir’s AJUP and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.