Matua populace, a Dalit community in Bengal, were often considered close to Banerjee ever since she became the Chief Minister in 2011.
Mamata Banerjee (R) with Matua matriarch Boro Ma (C). (Photo: Facebook/@MamataBanerjee)
Before Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal, where he is set to have lunch at the residence of a Matua citizen, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called for a meeting with representatives of the same community on Wednesday.
Running up to the much-important Bengal Assembly Elections next year, both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have made special efforts to woo the Matua voters, who are believed to be 3 crores in number in a state of around 10 crore population.
Matua populace, a Dalit community in Bengal, were often considered close to Banerjee ever since she became the CM. However, the affiliation suffered a blow after BJP made a massive inroads into the Matua community during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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Therefore, the Namashudra community has become hot property ahead of the next year’s Assembly Elections. The saffron camp is attempting to consolidate their strength further, while the ruling party is trying to regain the lost ground.
According to a report carried by ETV Bharat West Bengal, the TMC supremo will also meet representatives of Bagdi and Bauri communities. She might announce a few welfare packages designed specifically for the Matuas during the meeting on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister will arrive at the poll-bound state with a bigger IT team for an acute analysis in all Assembly constituencies.
This visit gains importance amid speculations that BJP state president Dilip Ghosh will be replaced soon. Mr Shah will hold two meetings on 5 and 6 November, where all organizational senior leaders will be present.
The first meeting will be held at Burdwan, where leaders from Midnapore and Burdwan will join. Second meeting on 6 November will be held in Kolkata, where zone leaders both from Nawadip and Kolkata will be present. A senior BJP leader said that Shah will ask for detailed reports regarding organizational matters in those zones.
The visit becomes salient after general secretary (organization) Subrata Chattapadhaya was replaced a few days ago who is close to Ghosh.
It has been learnt that Shah will bring an expert IT team with him. This team will conduct review in each of the 294 Assembly constituencies from next month.
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