Kolkata: After the names of over 86,175 people belonging to the Matua community in four Assembly constituencies under Bongaon subdivision were removed from the draft rolls published by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) slammed the BJP-linked faction of the Matua Mahasangha, headed by Shantanu Thakur, asking where have their assurances gone?
TMC MP belonging to the community, Mamatabala Thakur, said that a protest will be carried out in Delhi against the deletion of names of Matuas from the electoral draft rolls.
BJP MP Shantanu Thakur was accused of issuing religious eligibility certificates for Rs 100, which Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had dubbed as a “big fraud” that could lead to genuine voters being delisted. Banerjee had also alleged that, in exchange for assurances of citizenship under the CAA, religious certificates were being issued by the BJP’s Matua faction.
After the publication of draft rolls, it was found that the names of 86,175 Matuas were removed in four Assembly constituencies — Bongaon North, Bongaon South, Gaighata and Bagda. It was learnt that among those whose names have been removed, there are many matua members. The number also includes those voters who died or migrated to another place. Bongaon North has seen the highest deletion of 26,000 people, followed by Bagda with 24,927 people. About 16,642 names have been removed in Gaighata and 18,563 in Bongaon South.
BJP-linked Matua faction had also been accused of monetising Matuas’ CAA applications as its leaders allegedly collected Rs 20 for assistance to fill up forms and Rs 800 to submit them at a CAA “camps” set up by the saffron party in various parts of North 24-Parganas. A fierce political row broke out over Union Minister Shantanu Thakur’s involvement in issuing identity cards to members of the All-India Matua Mahasangha, with allegations of corruption, deepening the controversy.
Thousands of Matuas were spending sleepless nights over their future. Where have the BJP leaders gone who had assured the Matuas that they have nothing to fear due to the implementation of SIR, said Mamatabala Thakur.
Over a lakh of voters from the Matua heartland in North 24-Parganas’ Bongaon subdivision, are likely to receive notices for hearing.
These people, most of whom came to India from Bangladesh, have been found lacking in progeny mapping.
While many of them had their names in the 2025 voter list, and some even in the 2002 list, the names of their parents or grandparents were not found in the rolls. The number, according to the draft list, is over 1.3 lakh.