In the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly election of 2021, the BJP government at the Centre is trying to win in the state by capitalising on the Matua vote bank in addition to other equations. The results of the 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls showed that the once formidable Left Front had decayed. Now, the main contest in Bengal will be between the ruling TMC and the BJP, and undoubtedly, the voters who are inclined to Left ideology in the state will play an important role.
Ignored by the Bhadraloks
Since 2000, we can notice a drastic change in the state politics of Bengal. With the TMC’s decades of protest against the Left and the subsequent downfall of the latter, there has been a new kind of political system in the state, with the definition of a vote bank getting reshaped. The state politics was always dominated by upper-class people. After the changes in the administration, the representation of the Dalit communities and minorities has increased.
Mamata to Matuas: You already are Indian citizens… outsider BJP trying to divide us
At another rally in Gopalnagar in Bongaon, the TMC chief once again vehemently opposed the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal. December 10, 2020 11:38:28 am
In its report card, the TMC emphasised that the Mamata Banerjee-led government worked towards social welfare of all communities (Express photo)
Days after the BJP, in a bid to appease Matua voters in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls, said that the Central government would begin implementing the new citizenship law (CAA) by February, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday exhorted that the Matua community had already been identified as Indian citizens and there was no question of giving them “new citizenship”.