The Centre’s move to grant Indian citizenship to Gujarat residents while staying mum on the similar demand of the Matuas in Bengal has created unrest within the state BJP
Matua votes to play crucial role in deciding fate of poll-bound West Bengal ANI | Updated: Apr 16, 2021 17:22 IST
By Joymala Bagchi
Thakurnagar (West Bengal), April 16 (ANI): As the West Bengal Assembly elections is on its fifth phase, the crucial Matua community s (or Namasudras) votes that forms a major chunk of votes in the upcoming phases happens to be instrumental in deciding who comes into power in the state.
In areas that have a predominant presence of this community, political parties are wooing Matuas with varied promises.
On one hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pitching implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the first cabinet meeting once it forms government in the state whereas the Left Front that has the fragrance of its lost glory lingering in these areas speaks of providing employment and education. All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) stated that it has done a lot of development for Matua but promises to
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in an apparent jibe at state BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Monday said that those threatening of more Cooch Behar-like killings should be banned politically.
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.