The All-India Matua Mahasangha has decided to not interfere in the “political freedom” of its followers as they vote on Sunday when 108 civic bodies go to polls, indicating a growing rift between the community and the saffron camp.
This decision, sources in the Matua Mahasangha said, was an aberration in recent years.
The outfit before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly polls had asked its followers to vote for the BJP candidates.
“This time it is different. We aren’t asking anyone to vote for anybody. They can exercise their votes independently,” said Mohitosh Baidya, a general secretary of the Mahasangha.
The timing of the Mahasangha's decision is significant as it coincides with the recent growing tension between Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur, the chief of the Mahasangha and also a junior Union minister, and the BJP state unit.
Baidya said that since 2019 —when Thakur had contested and won on a BJP ticket from the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat — the Mahasangha had sincerely performed electoral duties for the BJP. They had also campaigned for BJP candidates, in Bongaon and elsewhere.
In 2021 as well, the Mahasangha — the apex bodies of the Matua sect—had asked its followers to vote for the BJP. Various members of the Matua sect had worked as polling and booth agents for the candidates as well.
However, MP Thakur’s relationship with the state party unit has been rapidly souring since December last year after a new state committee of the party was formed and the MP complained that the Matuas had been slighted.
Moreover, there is a growing discontent among the Matuas owing to the indefinite delay by the BJP-led Centre in the implementation of the new citizenship matrix.
The Matuas, who are lower-caste Hindu refugees, are a pro-CAA community and have been fighting for citizenship rights in India.
Their political influence in Bengal, where they settled, is considerable, which is why their anger at the saffron camp is a source of concern for the beleaguered party in the state.
The Matuas dominate the electorate in a large section of North 24-Parganas, Nadia and parts of north Bengal.
Their inaction during the civic polls this time may cost the party dear, sources in state BJP said.
“Shantanuda didn’t campaign for us. This was bad enough for us. On top of that the Mahasangha has almost withdrawn its support as well,” a source in BJP said.
