The decision of a parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation to grant the ministry of home affairs extension till April 9 to frame the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, rules has put the BJP in a fix as the party tries hard to assuage the sentiments of the Matuas who have been showing signs of restlessness over the delay in rolling out the citizenship matrix.

To contain the adverse political consequences of further delay that the extension will cause, the BJP-aligned All India Matua Mahasangh has written to the Union home ministry seeking its view on the delay while increasing its coordination with at least 36 refugee organisations to decide the future course of action.

“It is true that certain doubts and questions have arisen in the minds of the Matuas and we cannot ignore their concern. The extension to frame rules has only added to the confusion. We are trying to clarify that nothing could be finalised before the Assembly polls but there is nothing to despair. We have sent a number of queries to the home ministry that Matuas have raised. We are hopeful that confusion will end when Amit Shah speaks at Thakurnagar next week,” a top leader of the Mahasangh said.

He added the Union home minister was expected to address the rally at Thakurnagar in North 24-ganas on February 11.

The Mahasangh leadership is banking on the “patience” of the community members and hopes that Shah will be able to end the confusion among the Matuas. A Mahasangh leader said that they would meet after February 11 to decide on the what to do next.

Subrata Thakur, who heads the Mahasangh jointly with his brother and BJP MP Santanu Thakur, told The Telegraph: “It is true that the government has been taking time for framing the rules. We are hopeful that the delay will be good for us eventually.”