Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar on Sunday asserted that the Matua abode in Thakurnagar, North 24-Parganas, does not belong to any individual as his paternal property.

Sarkar hinted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi might soon visit the site, daring anyone to stop him.

Sarkar made the statement during a public meeting held at the outskirts of the Matua abode in Thakurnagar, where a demonstration was staged protesting the alleged abusive behaviour of Matua leader and BJP MLA Subrata Thakur.

The controversy erupted after Thakur reportedly ousted the North 24-Parganas district Congress president Indrani Dutta Chatterjee when a few days ago she went to deceased Matua matriarch Binapani Devi’s residence to offer puja.

Speaking at the gathering, Sarkar said: “It was not Indrani who was the actual target. The real target was the flag she carried — the Congress flag — which angered Subrata Thakur. Boro Ma Binapani Devi is a cult figure, revered by all irrespective of faith and belief. Everyone bows before her with respect and devotion. So who are they to stop anyone from offering puja? Boro Ma or the Thakur Bari is no one’s paternal property.”

Sarkar openly challenged anyone daring to prevent Rahul if he visited the abode in the near future.

While the protest seemed to focus on the insult of Indrani Dutta Chatterjee by Sarkar, who became the first state Congress leader in last two decades to visit the Matua community hub in Thakurnagar, party insiders claimed that the Congress leadership wanted to gauge the pulse of the Matua community in the run-up to the Bengal Assembly polls.

For several years, the electorally significant community remained divided in its allegiance between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.

The need for this assessment gained urgency after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal’s directive on Friday, which switched the Bengal Congress into election mode.

In an effort to reorganise the Congress at the grassroots across all 294 Assembly segments of Bengal, the state leadership of the party began an outreach to establish a visible and viable organisational presence.

The campaign includes “Voter Adhikari Sammelan”, statewide block-level rallies and conferences, and a mass signature campaign titled “Vote Chor-Gaddi Chhod”, aimed at challenging the central government’s proposed special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bengal.

Sunday’s visit thus served a dual purpose: to prepare for the electoral exercises and assess the Matua community’s sentiments ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. The Matua community, considered the second most sought-after vote bank in Bengal after Muslims, comprises around 35 per cent of the electorate in Bongaon (North 24-Parganas) and Ranaghat (Nadia).

Substantial Matua populations are also settled in Jalpaiguri, Krishnanagar, Burdwan East and pockets of Barasat, Alipurduar, Joynagar and Raiganj, making their political backing highly coveted for all parties.

Party insiders revealed that recent efforts by a section of Matua devotees to meet Rahul had prompted the Bengal Congress president to visit the community abode after a gap of around two decades.

On August 30, a Matua team met Rahul Gandhi in Bihar during his “Vote Adhikar Yatra”. an interaction facilitated by senior party leader and former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

“We have been in touch with the community for a long time and have sent several correspondences to Rahul Gandhi on their behalf,” Sarkar said.

He also hinted at Rahul’s visit to Thakurnagar in the near future, adding: “The Indian citizenship benefits enjoyed by BJP MP Shantanu Thakur and his brother (MLA) Subrata Thakur are the result of efforts by Congress leadership, with which their grandfather PR Thakur was once associated.”

Both Trinamool Congress and BJP leadership dismissed Sarkar’s claim terming his visit a politically motivated stunt aimed at misleading the Matua community, accusing the party of failing to resolve the longstanding citizenship issue.

“It appears quite ridiculous to see Congress leaders here after such a long time. In the past 70 years, the party only made fake promises about resolving the Matua citizenship problem. Now they claim Rahul Gandhi would visit Thakurnagar. But what have his predecessors done? Congress is trying to mislead people ahead of the assembly polls, but it will not work,” BJP’s Bongaon MP and All India Matua Mahasangha chief Shantanu Thakur said in reaction.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Mamata Bala Thakur, who leads a different faction of the All India Matua Mahasangha, also dismissed the Congress leader’s visit.

“Anyone is welcome at Thakurnagar Thakurbari. But no one has the right to use abusive words like ‘paternal property.’ Nobody ever claimed the Matua abode is anyone’s paternal property. The Congress did not visit here for decades and has suddenly come because of political compulsion ahead of the elections. Their efforts will not succeed,” she said