Aam Janata Unnayan Party legislator Humayun Kabir on Monday welcomed the decision taken in the inaugural meeting of the new West Bengal cabinet, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, to allocate land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for the installation of barbed wire fencing along currently unfenced stretches of the international border with Bangladesh within 45 days. The move fulfils a pre-election commitment enshrined in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Sankalp Patra and personally pledged by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

What the Cabinet Decided

The new West Bengal cabinet, in its very first sitting under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, resolved to hand over land to the BSF within 45 days for erecting barbed wire fencing along unfenced segments of the India-Bangladesh border. This directly mirrors a pledge Amit Shah had made before the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, where he specifically stated that the land handover would be addressed in the new cabinet's inaugural meeting — a commitment that was fulfilled on Monday.

What Humayun Kabir Said

Welcoming the decision, Kabir underlined its national security dimension. "The security of the state and the country is associated with this decision. Now there is a double-engine government in West Bengal. So, the long-pending work for ensuring border security should be completed immediately. The land issue related to the matter will be resolved soon," he said.

He also expressed cautious optimism about the new Chief Minister's broader governance agenda. "The new Chief Minister had made a promise on this count. Let us have faith in his promises. Now it is to be seen how far the promises are delivered," Kabir added.

Who Is Humayun Kabir

Kabir, a former All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator, was suspended from the party ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections after he announced plans to construct a Babri Mosque at Beldanga in his native, minority-dominated Murshidabad district — modelled on the original structure at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh that was demolished on 6 December 1992. Following his suspension, he floated the Aam Janata Unnayan Party.

Kabir contested simultaneously from two Assembly constituencies — Naoda and Rejinagar, both in Murshidabad district — and won from both, making him only the second legislator after Chief Minister Adhikari to achieve this feat in the current election cycle.

Adhikari's Double-Constituency Win

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was elected from both his native Nandigram constituency in East Midnapore district and from Bhabanipur in south Kolkata. At Bhabanipur, he defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of over 15,000 votes — a result that underscored the scale of the BJP's electoral sweep in the state.

Broader Significance

Large stretches of the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal have remained unfenced for years, a persistent concern for security agencies over infiltration and cross-border smuggling. This is the first concrete administrative step by the new government to address that gap. Its execution within the promised 45-day window will serve as an early credibility test for the Adhikari administration. Notably, land acquisition disputes in border districts have historically stalled similar initiatives, making the timeline ambitious but politically significant.