KOLKATA: BJP’s national general secretary and Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya and national vice president Mukul Roy on Monday visited the Matua community’s headquarters at Thakurnagar, North 24 Parganas, ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit scheduled on January 30.
Shah is likely to address the Hindu refugees who migrated from Bangladesh on the issue of implementing the CAA, a promise that the saffron camp had made to woo the Dalit vote-bank comprising Matuas.
"It is yet to decide whether Shah’s rally will be organised under the banner of the party or Matuas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to this area was organised under the banner of Matuas but the BJP’s leadership was behind it," said Roy.
Shah’s upcoming visit to Matua stronghold is said to be scheduled in the wake of the discontent expressed by BJP MP from Bongaon Shantanu Thakur who represents Matuas, a religious body comprising Dalits. Thakur, on several occasions, said Matuas want Shah to address the issue with a deadline for giving citizenship by implementing the CAA. He also said the political alignment of Matuas in the upcoming Assembly elections can't be judged if the CAA is not implemented before the election.
Matuas are a deciding factor in at least 55 Assembly seats and the electorates belong to the community voted en bloc for the BJP after the saffron camp promised citizenship for them. The party’s national leadership, including Shah and national president JP Nadda, dodged the issue whenever they were asked about the deadline for implementing the CAA.