‘TMC respects Matua community, detractors trying to deceive them’

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) took to its official Twitter handle to clarify that its party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s alleged mispronunciation of the names of two Matua leaders was an “inadvertent stutter”, a video clip of which is being allegedly used by the detractors of the party to deceive the Matua community.

The party’s Twitter handle stated: “The All India Trinamool Congress has the utmost respect for the Matua community. Hon’ble CM@MamataOfficial has always strived to ensure the holistic welfare of the community. We bow our heads in reverence to Shri Shri Harichand Thakur & Guruchand Thakur.”

The party in its tweet added: “Our detractors are trying to deceive the Matuas by using a clip of Hon’ble CM #MamataOfficial, where she stuttered inadvertently. We urge the people to not fall prey to such misgivings but remember the countless efforts undertaken by the GoWB for Matua welfare.”

However, this assurance barely managed to placate the International Matua Parishad whose convenor Sukesh Chowdhury has demanded that Mamata Banerjee either apologise publicly by issuing a statement in the next seven days or the Parishad would be marching to Nabanna on February 15.Recently commenting on the issue, senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim claimed that there is also a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a mistake while addressing a public rally.

“People who are doing BJP politics, such as Shantanu Thakur, should first ask Modi to apologise. This isn’t some big issue. Any person can make a mistake while speaking. Such mistakes do not insult anyone’s integrity.”

The controversy began at the administrative review meeting in Malda where during her address, TMC supremo, according to the detractors of TMC, allegedly mispronounced the names of Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur as “Roghuchand” and “Goruchand”.

The Malda district has a substantial amount of representation from the Matua community members who hail from Bangladesh and have settled here in districts such as Malda, North 24-Parganas and Nadia.