Trinamul Congress MP Mamatabala Thakur, who heads a faction in the All India Matua Mahasangha, on Monday dared Union minister of state Shantanu Thakur to submit his application for “citizenship” through the portal that the Centre launched for the purpose.
Shantanu, the Bongaon MP of the BJP, had recently said he would apply for “citizenship” through the portal which was created after the notification of rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“As far as I know, Shantanu Thakur was born in India and is an established Indian citizen by birth. He in no way qualifies to be an applicant under the CAA provisions,” said Mamatabala Thakur, who is an aunt to the BJP MP.
“But, even after that if he desires to appeal for citizenship through the portal, I challenge him to show his guts. If he is a Bangladeshi National he can definitely apply. But, if he declares himself to be a Bangladeshi, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to answer how he made a Bangladeshi his cabinet colleague and how his party has re-nominated such a person as a candidate for the ensuing Lok Sabha poll?” Mamatabala, a Rajya Sabha member, told The Telegraph.
According to her, it is high time for Shantanu, Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways, to file his application as it has been a week since the portal was launched after the gazette notification on the CAA rules.
Mamatabala is the wife of Trinamul’s former Bongaon MP Kapil Krishna Thakur, the eldest son of Bina Pani Devi, who was known as “Baro Maa”, an epithet for the universal mother of the Matua community. After Kapil Krishna had died in 2014, Mamatabala won the byelection from Bongaon. But in 2019, she lost to BJP nominee Shantanu Thakur.
According to the CAA provisions, the citizenship applicants must submit the details about the country of their origin first. The same information would be required for the applicant’s parents and spouses, besides details and proof of his or her entry into India.
Many Matuas have termed those provisions a serious “threat” as the applicant must first identify himself or herself as a “foreigner”. That the concerns are real is evident as Matuas have largely shown no interest in submitting their applications for citizenship.
Amid questions on why the Matua community members, who were celebrating the roll-out of the CAA, were not submitting their applications, Shantanu told reporters after a BJP meeting in Bagdah on Saturday evening that he would apply for citizenship to counter Trinamul’s misleading campaigning against the CAA.
“I shall apply for citizenship even though I don’t need it because my grandfather has a citizenship card. I will apply for citizenship only to check if I am robbed of any benefits and services by the government,” Shantanu said.
Insiders at the Matua abode in Thakurnagar said Shantanu was born in 1982 in Thakurnagar, which is in the Gaighata block of North 24-Parganas
When this newspaper asked Shantanu specifically how he could apply through the portal, he dodged a direct reply. “The comment was aimed at encouraging people to apply without fear,” Shantanu said.
Mamatabala also said on Monday: “It appears Shantanu is a Bangladeshi, otherwise he cannot seek citizenship!”
“But then it is baffling to learn that Modi-ji has chosen him to contest the Lok Sabha polls. To fight an election in India, he should first become an Indian citizen to make himself eligible to fight the poll.”
