A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Nadia’s Tehatta — a Matua domain under the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency — Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday tried to tell the community that the BJP’s citizenship promise was a trap to identify them as "foreigners".

On Friday morning, Modi will speak at an election rally in Shyamnagar area of Tehatta, located barely 7km from Betai, where the Trinamool chairperson held her poll meeting on Thursday afternoon.

At the Harichand-Guruchand stadium to back party candidate Mahua Moitra, Mamata alleged that Modi "tells lies" and warned people — especially those from the Matua community — about the assurances made by his government through the provisions of the recently implemented Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

"He tells lies.... He will come here tomorrow (Friday) to tell lies again," Mamata told the crowd that comprised a sizeable number of the Matua community.

Accusing Modi and the BJP of misleading the Matuas on the emotive issue of citizenship, Mamata asked: "You (Modi) have been speaking to ensure citizenship of the Matuas? What citizenship are you offering? You (Matuas) are natural citizens of India and nobody has the right to snatch your citizenship."

Challenging the Modi government that an application through the dedicated portal could put an applicant in trouble, Mamata questioned why Matua leader and Bongaon's BJP candidate Shantanu Thakur had not so far filed his application.

"You asked Matuas to apply for citizenship. But your candidate from Bongaon has not so far submitted his application. He is very clever. He knows that once the application is submitted he would become a foreigner," Mamata said, alleging that if one applies for citizenship, he would lose his PAN, Aadhaar, ration card and eventually miss all the government welfare facilities.

"The CAA is actually a ploy to implement the NRC so that people can be evicted from the country," Mamata further alleged.

Enquiries made by this newspaper in the Matua abode of Thakurnagar could not confirm any application for citizenship by any community member so far.

"The submission of applications will be taken up after the elections as a lot of training is required for the applicants and volunteers," a pro-BJP Matua leader in Thakurnagar said.

Krishnanagar votes on May 13, the fourth phase of the elections. Matua voters can swing poll results in some south Bengal constituencies such as Bongaon and Ranaghat, apart from having a strong influence in Barasat and Krishnanagar seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, although Trinamool candidate Moitra won, the Tehatta segment, a Hindu-dominant area with about 20 per cent Matua voters, she trailed behind the BJP.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, Trinamool won Tehatta. However, in 2023, it lost some gram panchayats in the area.

This time, the Trinamool leadership has launched a relentless campaign in the Matua-dominatd areas across the state, including Krishnanagar, desperately trying to convince the community about the "dangers" of the CAA rules.

"It is true that Matuas are still quite inclined towards the BJP. But the positive aspect is that as far as we have understood none from the community in Tehatta has so far applied for citizenship through the dedicated CAA portal. It appears that even the Matua community is not quite convinced about the BJP's narrative of the CAA rules," a Trinamool leader in Tehatta said.

BJP's Nadia spokesperson, Sandip Majumder, said: "Trinamool has been trying to create fear among the Matua voters about the CAA. But their plan will not succeed."

Mamata, in her election rally speech on Thursday, praised her party candidate Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha recently over "cash for query" allegations, for her dynamic role in Parliament that often caused grave embarrassment to Modi government.

Claiming that one of the reasons behind Modi's Friday visit to Tehatta is Moitra, Mamata said: "They have a big problem with Mahua (Moitra).... She used to speak to their (the BJP leaders') face. She was never afraid of them and fought like a tigress. She earned their wrath for disclosing the bitter truth of how they are looting our country."

"They became afraid of Mahua and so conspired to expel her from Parliament," Mamata said, urging the voters to elect her again and to send her to Parliament.

"Modi can expel Mahua from Parliament, but he cannot take her away from the hearts of people. I urge you to accept her again (to prove) that you have not expelled her, rather accepted her in Krishnanagar again," she said.

In her speech, Mamata also flayed the Congress leadership for the alleged remark of its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury that advocated support for the BJP.

Mamata said: "These people have neither ideology nor ideals. Some selfish people like him (Chowdhury) have sold off the country."

Later in the day, Mamata also joined a cultural show with the Matuas and danced a few steps with community members along with Moitra.