Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday cancelled his weekend visit to Bengal, dealing a major blow to the BJP’s plans that included a rally at the Matua bastion of Thakurnagar in North 24-Parganas on Saturday.
Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the visit had been cancelled in the aftermath of a blast near the Israel embassy in New Delhi on Friday.
“Amitji’s schedule for January 30 and 31 has been cancelled. But the programme at Dumurjola stadium in Howrah on January 31 will be held as scheduled. Someone from Delhi will replace Amitji,” Ghosh said.
The cancellation of the Shah’s rally at Thakurnagar has left the Matuas restless as the community expected the Union home minister to announce roll-out of the contentious Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and clear their concerns on the issue at the meeting on Saturday.
The dejection among the Matuas over the cancellation of Shah’s trip is obvious as this is the second instance of Shah not making it to Thakurnagar in recent times. During his last trip to the state on December 19 and 20, there were discussions that Shah would address the Matuas on the first day of the trip but Midnapore got preference over Thakurnagar. Trinamul turncoat Suvendu Adhikari and several others had joined the BJP at the rally at Midnapore.
The hype over Saturday’s rally at Thakurnagar was evident on Friday evening as the stretch of Jessore Road from Barasat to Bongaon was lined up with BJP and Matua flags. Local BJP leaders held street-corner meetings to ensure that large numbers of Matuas turned up for Shah’s rally on Saturday.
“This was supposed to be a show of strength for us,” a local BJP leader in Bongaon said. “But the cancellation of the rally will be a major loss of face,” the leader added.
The BJP has long been trying to woo the Matuas, who have the numbers to determine the results in several Assembly seats in the districts of North 24-Parganas and Nadia and some parts of north Bengal, with the CAA bait and the delay in its implementation has made the community, including All India Matua Mahasangha chief and BJP MP Santanu Thakur, restless.
“We understand that the situation in Delhi is serious. But the Matuas are getting frustrated now,” a pro-BJP Matua leader said.
The sudden cancellation of Shah’s trip has derailed several outreach programmes that the BJP had planned, including the home minister’s visit to the Iskcon temple in Nadia’s Mayapur on Saturday.
The BJP, however, has not cancelled the public meeting at Dumurjola on Sunday since several prominent Trinamul leaders are scheduled to join the BJP at the rally.
“We are desperately trying to get someone of the stature of our president J.P Nadda or a senior leader like Rajnath Singh for Sunday’s rally,” said a Bengal BJP leader who did not want to be named.
BJP sources said that former Trinamul minister Rajib Banerjee, who along with expelled party MLA Baishali Dalmia, former Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty and another Trinamul MLA Prabir Ghoshal would switch over to the BJP on Sunday.
“Everything is final. In fact, Rajibda, Prabirda and Rathinda met Kailash Vijayvargiya and Suvenduda on Friday evening to finalise things. We can’t delay the joining any further,” a BJP source said.
“That is why we want someone big from Delhi to come down to Dumurjola and hand over the flags to them,” the source added.