Updated:
April 23, 2021 16:26 IST
The Matuas became a significant political entity after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, came into being
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The Baruni fair procession in Thakurnagar, the holy site of Matuas in North 24 Parganas. | Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
The Matuas became a significant political entity after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, came into being
On a sultry April day, Thakurnagar, the holy site of Matuas in the Bongaon sub-division of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh, sizzles with banners of rival political parties asking for votes. As if indifferent to the ongoing political tension and the pandemic threat, a boisterous religious rally makes its way through the town, with men jumping as high as they can and women rolling on the roads. The sound of drums gets deafening. Every participant seems to be in ecstasy.
West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021: Does a ‘Party Society’ Really Subsume the Politics of ‘Identity’ and ‘Development’?
While West Bengal’s “exceptionalism” is often touted to explain the claimed lack of communal and caste-based politics in the state, the rise of populist forces has somehow managed to take advantage of identitarian fault lines without creating space for democratic political mobilisation of marginalised sections.
Elections for 294 seats of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held between 27 March and 29 April 2021 in eight phases.
The key political players in the upcoming elections include:
(i) The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its allies, including the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha;
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