Disgruntled Bengal BJP leader and junior Union Minister for Shipping Shantanu Thakur stepped on heat on the party leadership, on Sunday holding a meeting of the Central committee of the Matua Mahasangh the umbrella body of one million strong Matua community.
Matuas are a closely knit members of the SC community — that migrated to India from Bangladesh after Partition and 1971 war — distributed across four-five districts of Bengal impacting about 25-30 Assembly seats and 5-6 MP constituencies.
Thakur who on Saturday held a closed-door meeting with rebel party MLAs and some senior leaders including deposed State vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar, Ritesh Tewari and Sayantan Basu said the Sunday’s meeting was held to chalk out some plans for future movements concerning the Matua community.
Thakur is the grandson of Matua matriarch and late religious leader of the Matua Mahasangh a Hindu reformist movement which has considerable presence on both sides of the border.
Though Thakur would not speak much other leaders of the community said, “talks were held on the betterment of the Matua community and implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act … the Matuas and all other people who migrated to India need to be recognized as proper citizens a promise that was given to us by the BJP … and Home Minister Amit Shah himself said that process of implementation of CAA would start after the pandemic and particularly after the vaccination drive was completed … now the time has come we want the Centre to implement its promise on CAA.”
Sunday’s meeting is seen as Thakur’s ploy to step up pressure on the State leadership to accommodate his followers in the newly formed decision making committees.
Earlier he said on Saturday that “a section of the State leaders are trying to sell out the party to some other outfit.” Regarding the formation of a new State committee he said “those who took BJP from 2 per cent to 40 per cent have been axed whereas those who did nothing are enjoying plum posts.”
A rebel MLA said how “Matuas have been completely ignored by the leadership in distribution of posts … though they have a large presence in Bengal.” Though he would not take any names the Union Minister’s statements are reportedly aimed at BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh even as he said “there are some leaders who do not want the BJP to prosper in Bengal … they are misleading the national leadership into taking wrong steps.”
On whether he was planning to join some other party Thakur said “there is ample scope for removing the ills from within the party … and thereis no need to leave the party.”
In a show of dissent about 10-15 BJP MLAs and other leaders have recently left various designated WhatsApp group of the party. So much so that the Birbhum district committee of the BJP had to literally announce that there was no formal WhatsApp group of the party existingin the district.
