Santanu Thakur, MLAs leave BJP WhatsApp group in protest against Matua exclusion

After suffering electoral defeats and defections, the West Bengal BJP now faces a new challenge: the wrath of Matua community leaders, a critical vote bank that helped the party win numerous seats in the 2021 Assembly elections as well as guaranteeing its triumph in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Santanu Thakur, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, left different Bengal BJP WhatsApp groups on Tuesday, expressing his dissatisfaction with the BJP. Thakur, a senior Matua community leader and the chairman of the All India Matua Mahasangha, a religious and cultural organisation of the community, is an MP from Bongaon.
His decision came after a number of members of the community's MLAs deserted the state BJP's WhatsApp groups.

Also Read: Now BJP MLA quits WhatsApp groups of the party

They have been angry with the party since the Matua leaders were not included in the newly announced restructured state committee. They also pointed out that, even in locations with a sizable Matua population, their community leaders do not have appropriate representation in the party's organisational zones and district committees.

The Bengal BJP claimed the controversy would be settled internally as Thakur and several Matua BJP MLAs had a closed-door meeting on Tuesday night to discuss their demands, even as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) made plain that its doors would stay open for talks with the "dissenting" Matua leaders.

"The Matua votes helped the BJP win seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections. Many BJP workers from the community have been killed in political violence. The Matua people want to be represented in the party's committees and district leadership. It is not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the community. Mukut Mani Adhikari, a BJP MLA from the Ranaghat Dakhin constituency, told The Indian Express, "We want the BJP to be strong in Bengal." Adhikari was one of the MLAs who had a private meeting with Thakur on Tuesday.

"Our demands are unmistakable. Following conversations with Santanu Thakur on the subject, we want Matuas to represent the Bengal BJP's state committee as vice president and secretary. Matuas should be represented by the role of Nabadwip zone observer. We want the president of the Nadia Dakshin and Bongaon organisational districts to be replaced. In both cases, accurate representation of the community is critical. We also want the party to consult Thakur before constituting a Scheduled Caste Morcha committee in the state," Adhikari added.

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On December 25, five MLAs — Mukutmoni Adhikari, Subrata Thakur, Ambica Roy, Asok Kirtania and Asim Sarkar — had quit several WhatsApp groups of the state BJP, expressing their resentment over the lack of Matua representation in the state party committee. The majority of them are Matua residents. Later, B L Santosh, BJP national general secretary (organisation), and Amit Malviya, party in charge of Bengal, held a meeting with the disgruntled Matua legislators.

"It is an internal affair of the party," Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder stated, attempting to downplay the incident. We'll speak with him (Santanu Thakur) and try to settle any problems he may be having. There is a method to all of this. One should have communicated directly with state leadership."

Meanwhile, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool has signalled that it is open to undertaking negotiations with the Matua community's dissatisfied BJP leaders in order to bring them into the fold.

The Matua community, which has a population of over 1 crore in West Bengal, has a strong presence in 26 Assembly seats, where they can have a significant impact on the election's outcome. These are mostly Assembly segments in North 24 Parganas' Bongaon and Barasat parliamentary seats, as well as Nadia's Krishnanagar and Ranaghat parliamentary constituencies.

The BJP's Bengal unit is beset by discord, infighting, and defections after being thrashed by the Trinamool in the Assembly elections, which were followed by a disaster in the recent Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections.

A number of its MLAs defected to the TMC and left the party. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 18 of the state's total 42 seats. Even while the party won 77 seats in the Assembly elections early last year, it lost all of the ensuing Assembly bypolls. It had a terrible showing in the KMC elections.

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