The ruling Trinamool said the BJP’s U-turn on the Matua citizenship issue and constitutional rights was a “cynical, backstabbing betrayal.”
“For years they dangled the mirage of citizenship like cheap bait in front of our Matua brothers and sisters, conning them election after election with honeyed lies, only to stab them in the back the moment the votes were pocketed,” the Trinamool said in a statement released on its X handle.
A day ago, junior Union minister Shantanu Thakur had told the Matua community to endure the hardship of exclusion (from the electoral rolls).
“If 50 lakh Rohingya Muslims’ names are struck off the voters’ list and, in that process, one lakh of our people lose their names, we must tolerate it. We should bear with it,’ Thakur had said while addressing a meeting organised by the state BJP in his constituency Bongaon on Monday.
Over 58 lakh names have been deleted by the Election Commission in the draft rolls released by the central poll panel after completion of the Special Intensive Revision. Another 1.36 crore names are currently under scrutiny for “logical discrepancies.”
After the publication of the draft electoral rolls, it emerged that the names of 86,175 voters from the Matua community had been removed across four Assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas, including Bongaon North, Bongaon South, Gaighata and Bagda.
Bongaon North recorded the highest deletions at around 26,000, followed by Bagda with 24,927. Gaighata saw 16,642 names struck off, while 18,563 were removed in Bongaon South. Officials said the list also included voters who had died or migrated, but local leaders confirmed that a substantial number of those deleted were Matuas.
Thakur’s claim of 50 lakh Rohingya Muslims to be deleted from the electoral rolls is not supported by the figures provided by the commission.
The Trinamool took the opportunity to attack the BJP on the SIR and Matua citizenship issue.
“BJP’s own leaders are sprinting in reverse like rats deserting a sinking ship. First, Sukanta Majumdar claimed granting citizenship to Matuas was a time-taking affair. And now Shantanu Thakur has declared that it’s perfectly acceptable if one lakh Matua names are deleted from the electoral roll,” the Trinamool said. “To you Matuas are expendable fodder, disposable pawns in your power games. You used them, abused them, and now discard them like trash. Your betrayal seals your doom, you treacherous Bangla-Birodhi vultures.”
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly warned the BJP that deletion of even a single “genuine voter” will not be tolerated.
“With the EC reduced to their obedient B-team, BJP has rammed through its silent invisible rigging abomination in Bengal, forcing millions of Matuas into a humiliating litmus test of citizenship designed to strip them of their rights and erase their votes,” the Trinamool has said.
Junior minister Thakur tried to assuage the community members saying the Citizenship Amendment Act will help them get their rights in India.
“Thousands of Matuas are spending sleepless nights over their future. Where have the BJP leaders gone who had assured the Matuas that they have nothing to fear because of SIR,” said Trinamool MP Mamatabala Thakur.