West Bengal Assembly election 2021, Humayun Kabir profile: TMC fields ex-IPS officer against BJP's Bharati Ghosh

Former IPS officer Humayun Kabir will be contesting from Debra, which is about 100 kilometres away from Kolkata under Paschim Midnapore district, on a TMC ticket in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls. Debra constituency will witness a head-to-head contest between two super cops on 1 April in the second of the eight-phased Assembly election. The saffron party has fielded ex-IPS officer and BJP vice-president Bharati Ghosh. While it will be a political debut for Kabir, Ghosh had contested from Ghatal in the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to the Indian Express, Kabir had said, “I am banking on the development done by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the last 10 years. This is election time — so I have to fight against someone or the other. There will be other candidates too, so this (my contest against Bharati Ghosh) is not relevant . I would just say khela hobe (the game is on) in a democratic way.” Kabir, who was Commissioner of Chandannagar police commissionerate, recently quit his service and joined the Trinamool Congress months before his retirement which was due in April 2021. Kabir’s hometown is Debra, and his parents Arsed Ali and Jinatun Begum still stay in Debra constituency. In 2016 election, this constituency was won by the TMC. The voter turnout in Debra Assembly constituency was recorded at 89 percent. Selima Khatun (Bibi) of TMC had won the seat by defeating Jahangir Karim Sk from CPM by a margin of 11,908 votes. Debra is an Assembly constituency in the West Medinipur district of West Bengal. It falls under the Ghatal Parliamentary constituency. The voting began on 27 March, with Bengal having a maximum of eight phases continuing till 29 April. Including Debra, 30 Assembly seats will go to polls in the second phase. The results of the election will be declared on 2 May. The state is held by the AITC (also known as TMC) with an absolute majority, with Mamata Banerjee on her second consecutive term as chief minister. The ruling party is fighting a pitched battle with archrival BJP, while the Congress-led alliance is also a key player in the fray.