Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday claimed Mamata Banerjee would not receive any votes from the Matua and Namosudra communities as she had opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfil the longstanding demands of these communities.
“Why did you go to Bongaon? You will never get votes from the Matua or Namosudra community,” Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition and the Nandigram MLA, said at a rally in Birbhum’s Sainthia to counter Mamata’s march and public meeting in the Matua stronghold of Bongaon in North 24-Parganas.
Mamata, during her visit to Bongaon on Tuesday, held a meeting against the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in its present form. She assured the Matuas that they would face no problems as long as she was there to fight against the BJP, before leading a march there.
“Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur formed the Matua Samaj to protect their Sanatani (Hindu religion) from conversion. The movement the Matua leaders began in 1945 finally came to fruition in 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Thakurnagar to campaign for Santanu Thakur (currently Bongaon MP and Union minister of state). He promised citizenship to all persecuted Hindu refugees,” Adhikari said before criticising Mamata for her anti-CAA stance.
He also claimed that Mamata had to apologise to the Matuas because she had opposed the CAA.
“You (Mamata) opposed the CAA. In the last two or three days, 500 people have been provided with citizenship certificates. The rest of those who have applied will get their certificates soon. Their names will certainly be included in the electoral rolls, and there is no reason (for them) to worry,” Adhikari continued, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah served as a shield for them.
Earlier in the day, during a news conference in Calcutta, Adhikari said he had written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, urging him not to deploy biased police officers on election duty once the model code of conduct comes into force before the Assembly polls.
Adhikari also presented a video of a recent police welfare association convention held in Digha, where several speakers had publicly called for ensuring Mamata’s return to power for a fourth consecutive term in the 2026 Assembly elections.
Adhikari claimed that 80 per cent of the state police force wanted Mamata’s ouster, but one section of the cops had been blatantly working as Trinamool Congress cadres.