The highlight of Union home minister Amit Shah’s Bengal visit — he reached Calcutta on Wednesday night — is likely to be two luncheons, one with a tribal family in Bankura on Thursday and another at a Matua home on the outskirts of Calcutta on Friday.
A BJP source said that the luncheons were part of an outreach plan that Shah has for Bengal. The selection of the communities is significant as the saffron surge in Bengal is often linked to the inroads that party could make into large clusters of tribal and refugee communities.
Multiple leaders in the state unit said that they were asked to arrange Shah’s lunch in two households which represent these communities.
“Some Matuas are unhappy since the CAA hasn’t yet been executed in Bengal. Amitji’s visit will send a reassuring signal to these groups,” said a party source.
In the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wrested six parliamentary seats in the Jungle Mahal area where the tribal electorate comprise a significant proportion, and bagged the Bongaon and Ranaghat seats where a bulk of voters
of the Matua community reside.
Over the years, several political parties — starting from the Left to Trinamul — have tried to woo the community, backward Hindus who were the last to leave Bangladesh, for electoral gains.
The Matuas play an important role in many seats in North 24 Parganas, Nadia and parts of north Bengal.
On Thursday, Shah will have lunch with the family of tribal farmhand Bibhishan Hansda in Chaturdihi village, 13km from Bankura town. On Friday, Nabin Biswas, a Matua, will host Shah.
“If I can meet him, I will thank Amitji for the amended (citizenship) law,” Nabin said on Wednesday. “I will also request him to implement it in Bengal as soon as possible.”
Though the Matuas had switched their loyalty to Trinamul since the change of guard, a significant section of the community have gone under the BJP fold and the ruling Trinamul has been trying to win them back with a slew of sops. “That’s why a special focus will be on Matuas in this visit,” said a source.
On Wednesday, a group of BJP leaders headed by Bishnupur MP and party’s state Yuva Morcha president Saumitra Khan camped at Bibhishan’s home in Bankura’s Chaturdihi village, renovating it before Shah’s visit. Both Bibhishan and Nabin have been asked to prepare “humble Bengali vegetarian food” for Shah.
Trinamul, in turn, put up around 500 party flags and 250 cut-outs of Mamata Banerjee across Bankura town and on the way to Chaturdihi. TMC started a “Go Back Amit Shah” campaign on social media.