Mamata Banerjee will step up her agitation against the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on Tuesday with public programmes in Matua-dominated Bongaon, but as earlier announced, she will not visit Thakurbari in Thakurnagar, the spiritual centre of the community, exposing bitter infighting within the local unit of the Trinamool Congress.
The chief minister is scheduled to hold a public meeting in Bongaon and a march from Chandpara along Jessore Road on Tuesday.
The pro-Trinamool Congress faction of the All India Matua Mahasangha has accused a section of the party of conspiring to dissuade Mamata from visiting the shrine.
The Mahasangha members, who belong to a faction led by Rajya Sabha member Mamatabala Thakur, warned that it was “unconcerned” about Trinamool’s poll prospects and would not take responsibility if “any problem” arose in next year’s elections.
The police-approved route map for the chief minister excludes the Harichand-Guruchand temple, revered by nearly 40 per cent of voters in the Bongaon subdivision of North 24-Parganas and adjoining Ranaghat in Nadia.
The Matua community, already facing severe difficulties linking their records to the 2002 voters’ list during the SIR, had expected direct interaction with Mamata. Many from the marginalised Hindu group, which staged a 13-day hunger strike against the electoral revision, believed Mamata’s visit to Thakurbari would reinforce her support for their movement. Instead, her decision to skip the shrine has fuelled fresh resentment.
“We are upset… it was not expected at all,” said Sukesh Chowdhury, a doctor by profession and general secretary of the pro-Trinamool faction of the Mahasangha.
He added: “We came to know that she is not coming because of a conspiracy by a section of people in the ruling party. If she visited Thakurnagar, the importance of the Mahasangha and of Mamatabala Thakur would increase, which some Trinamool leaders do not want.”
“These people deliberately opposed her visit. If any problem arises in the ensuing polls because of her not coming here, they should take responsibility. They are frustrated because Mamatabala Thakur and the Mahasangha have earned increasing acceptability through the movement on the SIR and the citizenship matrix.”
Chowdhury said the community had expected the chief minister’s presence. “Since she was coming to Bongaon and Chandpara, we thought she would visit the Thakurbari. She supported us during our hunger strike, so her visit would have encouraged the Matuas and reassured them. But her absence has created anger and discontent. Still, we believe she will soon visit Thakurnagar.”
Describing Mamata as a “guardian,” he said her presence would have strengthened the community’s morale amid the crisis.
Trinamool insiders acknowledged that the rivalry between the Mamatabala faction and the group led by Biswajit Das, president of the Bongaon district organising committee, became a serious embarrassment and disrupted civic work in Bongaon. Last week, the feud escalated when goons allegedly linked to one faction went on the rampage, hurled bombs and fired at the homes of six party councillors after they refused to sign a no-confidence motion against Bongaon municipality chairman Gopal Seth.
Das dismissed the allegations, saying: “It is CM Madam’s decision not to visit Thakurnagar this time.”
His rival, Mamatabala, said: “They are upset since they expected Mamata Banerjee here. But it is her decision, and no other factor is behind it.”
District observer Jyotipriya Mullick declined to comment.
Party insiders and police officers, however, suggested another reason for the chief minister’s absence: the possibility of a protest demonstration by the pro-BJP faction of the Matua body, headed by Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur, over her recent mispronunciation of the names of the community’s revered gurus.
Mamata recently referred to Harichand and Guruchand Thakur as “Raghu Chand and Guru Chand,” sparking anger among a section of Matua devotees, who demanded an unconditional apology. Posters reiterating the demand have appeared across Thakurnagar, prompting speculation that she chose to avoid
the area.
BJP’s Bongaon South MLA Swapan Majumdar said: “Mamata Banerjee has lost her face with fake assurances while misleading the Matua community. The way she insulted the two community gurus by wrongly referring to their names has put her in an embarrassing position, which actually forced her to skip the visit to Thakurnagar.”