Kolkata: Bengal BJP is expecting a message from the party’s national president JP Nadda on the issue of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) during his visit to Nadia district, a stronghold of Matuas, a Hindu religious sect comprising refugees from Bangladesh, on January 19.
Nadda will address a rally in Bethuadahari and the leadership of the saffron camp in Bengal is hopeful that he will give a roadmap for CAA’s implementation.
The BJP made inroads in Matua strongholds both in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 Assembly polls. Implementation of the CAA was the promise that the BJP made in recent previous elections to woo Matua electorates.
"I have not yet talked to the party’s high command about Nadda ji’s rally. I will request our leadership in Delhi to clear the confusion over the issue of implementation of the CAA," said BJP MP from Ranaghat.
A BJP leader said he is expecting a clear message on the CAA as part of Nadda's rally in the Matua-dominated district. "Matuas extended support in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections only because of our promise to give them citizenship by implementing the CAA. Now if we do not give them a deadline to implement the act, retaining the vote bank will be difficult for us," he said.
The BJP leaders in Kolkata said that if Nadda delivers a message on CAA, the mercury in Bengal politics will start soaring up before the panchayat elections.
"Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly opposed CAA and she on several occasions announced that her government and party would not allow the implementation of the CAA in Bengal. Despite her strong opposition, Naddaji should mention about CAA in his speech otherwise our party will face a debacle in the rural polls in many pockets in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts," said a BJP leader.
Bengal had witnessed large-scale violent protests after the contentious Act passed in the Parliament. BJP’s elected legislators and MPs also expressed their discontent when the Centre preferred to remain silent on the issue of CAA’s implementation.
Nadda was also scheduled to address another rally in Hooghly’s Arambagh, which is not a Matua stronghold, but the party's high command cancelled. "Since the party wanted its national president to give more time in a Matua-dominated district, we are quite hopeful about CAA in Bengal," said another BJP leader.