Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday accused the CPM and the Congress of dividing Hindu votes to help Mamata Banerjee's party after their leaders met members of a pro-Trinamool faction of the Matua community who have launched a fast-unto-death against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On Friday, CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty and Congress state president Subhankar Sarkar visited Thakurnagar and met members of the Matua community who were on a hunger strike against the SIR. The fast-unto-death was announced by Trinamool Rajya Sabha member and Matua leader Mamatabala Thakur on November 5, a day after the Election Commission began distributing the enumeration forms in Bengal.
"They are part of the INDI-alliance. They pretend to be the Opposition in Bengal only to divide Hindu votes. He (Chakraborty) contested from the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat and secured 2.10 lakh votes, which helped the TMC win. We (BJP) lost by only 76,000 votes. He split the Hindu vote and helped the TMC take the seat,” Adhikari claimed.
“You won’t find Sujanbabu or Subhankarbabu participating in any protest by Muslim communities. They were absent when ISF (Indian Secular Front) MLA Nawsad Siddiqui launched a movement against the Waqf Amendment Bill in Calcutta. The Matuas are Hindus, so they went there only to make anti-BJP statements and target (BJP MP and Union minister of state) Shantanu Thakur,” the leader of the Oppsition in the Bengal Assembly added.
Adhikari said the Congress had stopped fighting Mamata by removing strongman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the post of the state president. “The Congress has declared itself a friend of Mamata Banerjee. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge gave a clear signal that their party would not fight against Mamata by removing Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the post of state president,” the Nandigram MLA said.
Adhikari praised Chowdhury as a strong Congress leader in Bengal after Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Somen Mitra and Pranab Mukherjee.
Sarkar had on Friday said he had gone to Thakurnagar to show solidarity with the Matua community as a representative of the INDIA bloc. “I came to Thakurnagar today as a representative of the INDIA alliance to support the movement staged by the Matuas. The BJP–RSS combine should be socially boycotted for conducting the SIR, which is deliberately creating a civil war–like situation in the country,” Sarkar had said.
Chakraborty said he was invited by the All India Matua Mahasangh and asked why the BJP did not demand that the EC consider the 2024 electoral rolls and accept Aadhaar cards as proof of identity during the SIR if it truly cared for the Matuas.
“Who said the BJP is the custodian of all Hindu votes and the TMC of Muslim votes? People are panicked over the SIR, and that panic has been jointly spread by the EC, BJP and TMC. We always stand by people in crisis, and that is why we stood by the Matuas,” he said.
The pro-BJP and pro-Trinamool factions of the Matuas offered their own interpretations of the visit by the Congress and CPM leaders.
"This hunger strike, staged by a section of the Matuas, has been scripted by Mamatabala Thakur to project herself as the community’s leader. Having lost relevance within the Trinamool, she has joined hands with the CPM and Congress to regain political footing through this movement,” said Sukhen Gayen, general secretary of the pro-BJP faction of the All India Matua Mahasangh.
“Our movement is not meant to serve any political party or provide anyone with political mileage. It is entirely for the welfare of the Matua community and others across 12 states who are anxious about their identity and voting rights because of the SIR,” said Narottam Biswas, organising secretary of the pro-TMC faction of the Matua outfit.