By Tirthankar Mitra
Come June 4, the outcome of poll battle in Bongaon constituency of West Bengal will be a nay or nod to CAA NRC and related issues not only in the state but also in bordering states far away from it. Predominantly inhabited by Matuas, a Hindu dalit sub-sect, many of whom had trekked from erstwhile East Pakistan and thereafter from Bangladesh to a “secular India”, citizenship issue and the sense of belonging emanating from it, is a deciding factor in elections.
Indeed the BJP leaders have time and again assured the Matuas of citizenship. With the passing of the CAA Bill, BJP seems to be poised to get most of the Matua votes in Bongaon. which goes to the polling on May 20.. The tension in the campaign has reached its peak now as the centre has started issuing citizenship certificates to the eligible candidates including the Matuas who constitute a significant percentage of Bongaon’s electorate.
At a first glance, the BJP seems to have come up trumps promising citizenship and renominating a candidate from the family held in high regard by the Matua community. Moreover, inclusion of Santanu Thakur, a member of this family in the Cabinet of Narendra Modi in ,2019 seems to be an icing on the cake for the saffron camp. Santanu won Bongaon constituency in 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a good margin defeating his aunt Mamatabala Thakur of TMC..
But little did the BJP leadership had an idea that Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee has an ace up her sleeves. Bringing the soil of Orakandi from Faridpur, Bangladesh and beginning to build a temple like the one which exists in Bangladesh, the chief minister has dealt a master stroke in her campaign to influence the Matuas who are grateful to the TMC supremo for building the temple on the pattern of the original temple of Matuas in Bangladesh.
Associated with the memories of Thakur Harichand and Thakur Guruchand, Matua deities both, such is the sanctity of Orakandi temple that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited it. If his 2021 visit had been with an eye on the Matua vote bank, it paid off with the BJP for the first time emerging as the principal Opposition party in the state post 2021 Assembly elections.
The saffron camp placed its bet on Santanu Thakur who after his studies in Australia had settled down at Thakurnagar. He became a star campaigner for his party in Rajasthan, Andaman, Odisha and was later handpicked for contesting from Bongaon in 2019 polls against his aunt Mamatabala Thakur of TMC. Thakurbari family and Matuas were split, but Santanu won and later was picked up by Narendra Modi as a central minister.
But the BJP nominee’s popularity is reported to have somewhat slumped after he distanced himself from other Matuas post his gaining the Cabinet berth. Moreover, driving out his aunt Mamatabala Thakur and her daughter from Thakurbari have not endeared the minister to many members of his community. He is being opposed by Biswajit Das of TMC who defected from BJP to TMC only recently.
Santanu Thakur seems to be pinning hopes for victory on his TMC opponent Das being a habitual turncoat. Twice elected from Bongaon (Uttar) assembly constituency as a TMC MLA, though not a Matua, Das switched loyalty to the saffron camp post his journey in 2019 to the national Capital.
Elected a BJP MLA from Bagda in 2021, Das returned to TMC after touching the feet of the chief minister in the corridor of the assembly. In TMC, his organisational spadework is stated to be the cause of the electoral triumph in the rural polls and led to his proximity to unofficial number two in the ruling dispensation, Abhishek Banerjee.
Yet there seems to be thin ice below Thakur’s feet though the BJP candidate appears to be walking on hard rocks. Registration for CAA is drawing a lukewarm response in a constituency where Matua voters support will be the deciding factor.
The TMC announcement that registration will be followed by deportation in camp for the applicants of which Assam is a prime example, seems to have dampened the enthusiasm of those who once looked forward to it. The fate of the election hinges on the Matuas take on CAA. (IPA Service)
