2019: Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed allegedly campaigns for a Trinamul candidate at an election rally. The BJP complains to the Election Commission. The Indian visa of Ferdous, who had an acting career in Bengal, is cancelled.
2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Orakandi, the birthplace of Matua sect founder Harichand Thakur, at Gopalganj in Bangladesh on Saturday, the first day of polling in Bengal. Modi tweets pictures of his “blessed moments” at Orakandi Thakurbari, making sure the description is translated into Bengali too on his Twitter account. Images of Modi at Orakandi compete on TV with those of election day.
The Matua community, immigrants from Bangladesh, has considerable clout in North 24-Parganas and Nadia, which will vote in the subsequent phases. Some Matua leaders did say later on Saturday that Modi’s visit would influence the community’s voting preferences.
Question: Didn’t Modi virtually campaign for elections in India from a foreign country?
Before Modi and the BJP vehemently dismiss any parallels with Ferdous, here’s a nugget: the Bangladeshi actor had played Harichand Thakur, whose birthplace Modi visited on Saturday.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday demanded action against Modi for violating the model code of conduct after accusing him of trying to woo “one community” during his visit to Bangladesh at a time elections are being held in Bengal.
Addressing a rally in West Midnapore, Mamata asked: “Why are you in Bangladesh while there are polls in Bengal? If you go to Bangladesh to seek votes from people belonging to one community while the poll process is on, why shouldn’t your visa and passport be cancelled for violation of the model code?”
She added: “We will complain to the Election Commission. Sometimes they are saying that Mamata has helped infiltration from Bangladesh, and sometimes he is going to Bangladesh for marketing during the poll process. We want answers to who is right and who is wrong.”
The BJP has been trying to woo the Matua community in poll season as it accounts for a significant segment of the electorate in districts like North 24-Parganas and Nadia.
The Matuas had been with Trinamul till the BJP ate into the 35-lakh-plus vote bank ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by promising implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act. As the act has not been implemented yet, some Matuas are sulking. Many believe that Modi made it a point to visit Orakandi to win them over again just before the polls.
The Prime Minister was on an official tour of Bangladesh to participate in programmes held to mark the centenary of the nation’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, and the 50th birth anniversary of Bangladesh.
Modi visited the Jeshoreshwari temple in Satkhira and the Matua temple in Orakandi. After offering his prayers at the temple, Modi addressed a gathering of the Matua community and announced the Indian government would upgrade a middle school for girls in Orakandi with modern amenities and set up a primary school there.
“I spoke to some people here. They told me that no one would have thought that India’s Prime Minister would visit Orakandi,” Modi said in his address.
The Prime Minister added that the Indian government, with the cooperation of its Bangladeshi counterpart, would work towards making the visit of Matuas from India to Orakandi hassle-free.
On Saturday, Mamata spoke about the Prime Minister’s “marketing” in Bangladesh. Trinamul sources said she was referring to the promises Modi had made at Orakandi.
Ferdous Ahmed. File picture
The chief minister referred to the controversy over Ferdous for allegedly campaigning for Trinamul candidate Kanhaiyalal Agarwal in Raigunj in North Dinajpur. The BJP had written to the Election Commission objecting to Ferdous’s presence at the rally, and the actor had to lose his visa.
“In 2019, Bangladeshi actor Ferdous participated in one of our rallies. The BJP spoke to the government and got his visa cancelled. And what happens if the Prime Minister goes to a foreign country and speaks after polls have been notified? Everything is okay in your case and not in others’?” Mamata asked.
The BJP didn’t officially react to Mamata’s allegation but multiple Matua leaders this newspaper spoke to said the Prime Minister’s visit, his activities and promises in Orakandi would indeed yield political dividends for the party in the Bengal polls.
“Modiji met the representatives of the Thakur family in Orakandi. They demanded the establishment of a primary school and the upgrade of the middle school. Modiji was kind enough to oblige. We believe this historic visit will considerably increase the Matua vote share in favour of the BJP,” said Mohitosh Baidya, general secretary of the All India Matua Mahasangha, who was part of the Matua delegation that went with Modi.
BJP MP and chief of the Mahasangha, Shantanu Thakur, his father Manjul Krishna Thakur and wife Soma Thakur too were in Bangladesh.
Ferdous, who has acted in around 50 Tollywood films, has suffered collateral damage. The actor had told this newspaper he had gone to the rally unknowingly and had just waved at his fans.
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal had selected Ferdous for the role of Tajuddin Ahmed, regarded as one of the most influential figures in the creation of Bangladesh, for a biopic on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a film jointly produced by India and Bangladesh to mark the centenary celebrations. Ferdous lost the chance as Indian authorities did not issue him a visa.
