KOLKATA: In a bid to ease the perceived discontent among Matua community, triggered by the sudden cancellation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal, top-level functionaries of the BJP visited the religious sect’s headquarters at Thakurnagar in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas on Saturday and assured that the Union minister would visit the area shortly. The saffron camp’s national vice president Mukul Roy and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya went to Bongaon and met the BJP MP from the region, Shantanu Thakur,who is a representative of Matuas.
“Amitji’s event had to be cancelled because of unavoidable situation in Delhi. He called Vijayvargiyaji and talked to Shantanu Thakur over phone. There is no reason to get disappointed. He (Shah) assured that he would visit the area any day in near future,” said Roy. Roy also said the stage which was set up for Shah’s visit would not be dismantled. “It will be kept ready.
Matuas will be informed shortly when Amitji is coming here,” he added. Shah’s Bongaon visit was a much awaited event as the followers of the religious sect wanted him to announce a deadline for giving them citizenship by implementing the Citizenship Amendments Act. Matuas, who belong to the scheduled caste community and had migrated from East Bengal after 1947 Partition and 1971 war, voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections en bloc after the saffron camp had promised them citizenship. Bengal BJP functionaries planned to bring Shah to the Matua stronghold after the local MP, on several occasions, expressed his discontent over non-implementation of the the contentious CAA.
Using cancellation of Shah’s visit as a political tool to regain the support-base, former TMC MP of the area Mamatabala Thakur alleged the BJP insulted Matuas by giving them false promise of citizenship before last general elections. “He (Shah) could have come here today for a few hours. It is a fact that the BJP has nothing to tell in front of the M a t u a s , ” she said.
Community wanted CAA deadline from Shah Shah’s
Bongaon visit was a much awaited event as the followers of the religious sect wanted him to announce a deadline for giving them citizenship by implementing the Citizenship Amendments Act. Matuas, who belong to the scheduled caste community and had migrated from East Bengal
MP unhappy over delay in CAA implementation
Banking on Matuas’ support, BJP made inroads in the region, giving a massive jolt to the Trinamool, which failed to retain two Lok Sabha seats in south Bengal. BJP functionaries planned to bring Shah to the Matua stronghold after the local MP expressed his discontent over nonimplementation of the the CAA