Kolkata, Nov 1
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is likely to give an important message on granting citizenship to the people of the Matua Community in the state under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during his address on Sunday at the International Matua Gosai Conference at Thakurbari, the ancestral home of the Matua leadership in Thakurnagar at Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district.
Matuas are a Backward Class community from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, who settled in different pockets of West Bengal over time since Independence.
Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party has established a very strong vote bank base among Matua voters, as was seen in the Assembly polls, which marked the end of the 15-year Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime and the beginning of the first BJP-ruled regime in West Bengal since independence.
Although, as the erstwhile Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Adhikari had visited Thakurbari a number of times, this will be his first visit there since he took charge as the ninth Chief Minister of the state in May.
Considering that a lot of confusion and complications on the CAA are still prevailing among the people from the Matua community in the state, political observers feel that the visit of the Chief Minister to the international conference there later in the day is crucial since he is expected to say something important about the CAA on the occasion.
It is learnt that the Chief Minister will travel by helicopter from Kolkata, which will land at a helipad at Chandpara. From there, he will travel by car to Thakurbari and address the second International Matua Gosai Conference.
The entire Thakurnagar has been wrapped in a blanket security cover because of the Chief Minister's visit. Several administrative officials have already visited Thakurbari. Last-minute preparations are underway on behalf of the Matua Mahasangha to welcome the Chief Minister.
After attending the conference, the Chief Minister will have lunch at the residence of the local BJP Lok Sabha member from Bangaon and the Union Minister of State, Shantanu Thakur, before returning to Kolkata.
“After arriving at Thakurnagar, the Chief Minister will first offer puja at the temple. Then he will join the 2nd International Matua Gosai Conference. After the conference, the Chief Minister will have lunch at my residence and also meet with representatives of the Matua Mahasangha. After completing all the programmes, he will leave for Kolkata from there,” said Thakur.
