Express News Service
KOLKATA: Union Home minister Amit Shah is likely to visit Thakurbari, the headquarters of the religious organisation of the Matuas at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas, to address the community comprising Hindu refugees from Bangladesh on the implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The Matuas have been insisting that Shah visit their headquarters and let them know by when their demands for citizenship can be met.
Shantanu Thakur, the MP from Bongaon representing the Matuas, said the community is confused about when the CAA will be implemented and they will gain citizenship – a promise that the BJP had made before 2019 Lok Sabha elections and which had secured them the votebank of the Matuas.
The confusion among the community was exacerbated after both Shah and BJP’s national president JP Nadda, during their Bengal visit, dodged questions related to the party’s citizenship promise for Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. Both the national leaders said the process of CAA’s implementation was getting delayed because of Covid-19 pandemic.
Thakur, on several occasions in the recent past, expressed his discontent saying if his party doesn’t keep its promise before the upcoming Assembly elections, no one can say what the Matuas’ political alignment in the upcoming election will be. To pacify Thakur, senior BJP functionaries in Bengal had held a meeting with him.
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“Matuas are waiting to hear from Shah as he played the key role to get the contentious act passed in both the houses of Parliament,” said Thakur.
The BJP’s national leadership decided to send Shah to Bongaon as Matuas and Dalits, who also migrated from Bangladesh and do not belong to the community, have a strong presence in some of the pockets of the state and can change the political landscape in at least 55 Assembly seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Matua community voted en bloc for BJP candidates. Thakur bagged his win with a margin of more than one lakh and Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar won with a margin of more than two lakh votes.
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Eyeing the votebank, Trinamool Congress chief and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee addressed a rally in Bongaon and announced a slew of benefits and projects for the Matuas.
