Chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is set to address a public meeting on BJP turf at the college ground in Gazole, Malda, on December 3.
The choice of venue has drawn attention as Gazole is one of the three Assembly constituencies in Malda north — along with Old Malda and Habibpur — where the BJP won in the 2021 Assembly elections. Gazole sits at the intersection of the tribal and the Matua belts, making it an electorally sensitive zone.
Political analysts opined that the Trinamool chief has chosen Gazole strategically as Matua and Namasudra voters play a decisive role in the constituency. Many from these communities are reportedly anxious about the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which uses the 2002 voter list as the baseline.
“Many Matua voters migrated to India after 2002, and their names do not appear in the old rolls. This has triggered concern over whether their voting rights will be upheld in the next Assembly elections,” said a political observer.
Both Gazole and Old Malda Assembly constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Habibpur is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. While the CPM once held unchallenged influence here, the political tide shifted in 2021, giving the BJP a strong foothold.
Out of Malda’s 12 Assembly seats, a district with around 52 per cent minority population, the BJP won four, including Gazole, Habibpur, and Old Malda in the last elections.
Although the Trinamool Congress has historically struggled in these constituencies, it did induct former CPM MLA Dipali Biswas, who briefly joined the BJP before returning to Trinamool.
Party insiders said they expected Mamata to address concerns of Matua and Namasudra voters and reassure them that her party and the state government would safeguard their voting rights.
Abdur Rahim Boxi, the Trinamool's Malda district president and MLA, said the chief minister would counter the BJP’s “divisive narrative”.
“The BJP has been subtly frightening Muslim voters with claims about the presence of the Rohingya and infiltrators. Mamata Banerjee will expose this divisive politics,” Boxi said. He added that preparations were underway and the rally was expected to draw around 50,000 people.
The BJP, however, dismissed the significance of the CM’s upcoming visit. BJP leaders said the CAA, Matua representation in the Union government, and a tribal woman as the President of India were examples of the BJP’s commitment to these communities.
“Mamata Banerjee's previous visits also gathered crowds, but the BJP won. The Matua, Namasudra and tribal communities know the BJP is their true ally,” said Pratap Singha, BJP’s Malda North (organisational) district president.
Suvendu salvo
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari launched a scathing attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee during a BJP rally at Changrabandha in Cooch Behar on Saturday, alleging that Mamata was opposing the removal of “illegal infiltrators” from poll rolls under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) for political gain. He also accused Trinamool's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee of corruption, saying they must be “removed from Bengal”.
“Fencing could not be completed along the India-Bangladeshi border in several stretches because the state government has not provided the required land. That is why transborder crimes, including human trafficking, could not be checked,” said Adhikari.
He also took a dig at the CPM over “Bangla Bachao Yatra” that was launched from Tufanganj, also in Cooch Behar on Saturday. “This so-called ‘yatra’ will ultimately divide votes and benefit Trinamool,” he said.
Ahead of the rally, tensions flared between BJP leaders and police when the party erected a stage on a truck along the road leading to the Bangladesh border near the Changrabandha land port. Cops requested the stage be removed from the restricted road, prompting a heated exchange with BJP leader Dadhiram Roy. An agitated Roy remarked whether the road was “police property”.
Eventually, following police instructions, the BJP shifted the stage away from the border route. Adhikari addressed the gathering from the new venue.