The Narendra Modi government on Monday conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, ahead of the Prime Minister’s Bangladesh visit that coincides with the first phase of polling in Bengal.

On March 27, the first day of voting in Bengal, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to pay obeisance at Orakandi in Bangladesh, the birthplace of Harichand Thakur, founder of the Matua sect that the BJP is wooing in these elections.

The Prime Minister will reach Bangladesh on March 26 for the two-day visit.

On Monday, he tweeted: “Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 has been conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one of the greatest leaders of our subcontinent. Year 2020 marked the birth centenary of Bangabandhu.”

“Bangabandhu’s vision continues to light the India-Bangladesh friendship,” Modi said in another tweet.

“I had the privilege of honouring his memory during my previous Bangladesh visit and will again pay homage to him, alongside PM Hasina, during the #MujibBarsho celebrations,” he added.

Conferring the award on Bangabandhu is seen as an effort to strike a chord with the people of Bangladesh, given the fears that the Prime Minister could be accused of using a foreign country for electoral gains back home.

Santanu Thakur, the Bongaon MP and a leader of the Matua community, is scheduled to accompany Modi on his visit to Orakandi where Harichand Thakur was born on March 11, 1812.

The Matua Dalits migrated from Bangladesh during and after the Partition and have a decisive presence in nearly 40 of Bengal’s 294 Assembly constituencies.

The promise in the BJP’s Bengal manifesto to implement the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is aimed at wooing this community.

The Bangladesh government issued a statement to acknowledge “with deep gratitude” India’s decision to confer the Gandhi Peace Prize on Mujibur Rahman, “posthumously for the first time”. “It is an honour for Bangladesh and its people for the Father of the Nation to be bestowed with this prestigious award,” the statement said.