KOLKATA: After enjoying en bloc support of Matuas in the previous two elections, the BJP received a massive setback in the strongholds of the Hindu refugees from Bangladesh in the just concluded civic polls. The saffron camp failed to win even a single civic body which is located in the Lok Sabha constituencies won by the BJP in 2019.
Matua leaders of the BJP, including Union minister Shantanu Thakur, had expressed discontent over the Centre not implementing the contentious CAA. The poor show of the saffron camp is said to be a reflection of Matua discontent.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had secured lead in 21 out of 22 seats of Bongaon municipality which falls under Thakur’s Lok Sabha constituency. In the last year’s Assembly polls, the BJP had bagged all four constituencies dominated by the Matuas in Bongaon Lok Sabha seat. But in the civic polls, BJP won only one seat in Bongaon civic body while the TMC secured victory in 19 seats.