West Bengal polls: In Matua heartland, BJP faces SIR backlash
Times of India | 15 April 2026
Trinamool has alleged all along that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls was designed to favour BJP. But in the Matua belt along some of Bengal’s border districts, it is the local BJP that is crying foul over SIR.
Matuas — a Hindu sect from Bangladesh — had voted for BJP in large numbers in earlier polls, but post-SIR, a sizeable section of the Matuas has been knocked off the voter list. As a result, some outspoken critics of the exercise from the saffron party, who have jumped into the poll fray independently, are threatening to cut into the vote share of the party’s official candidates.
It’s ironic, because the BJP had won most of these seats in the 2021 assembly elections. The saffron party has been regarding the Matua-dominated Bongaon subdivision as a stronghold since the 2019 parliamentary elections.
The politically crucial Matua community is a marginalised Hindu sect, primarily comprising the Namasudra Scheduled Caste group.
A sweeping purge of the electoral roll under SIR has triggered sharp political and social fault lines in Matua-dominated constituencies in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, with over 1.25 lakh names struck off.
In the Nadia constituencies of Krishnanagar North, Krishnanagar South, Ranaghat North West, Ranaghat North East and Ranaghat South, over 90% of those placed under adjudication failed to make it to the final rolls. A comparable pattern has been observed across all six assembly segments in Bongaon, where deletions ranged between 67% and 88%.
In the Matua-dominated Bongaon subdivision, where four assembly segments — Bagdah, Gaighata, Bongaon North, and Bongaon South — account for a significant chunk of deletions, three seats are held by BJP, and the party led in all four segments in the last Lok Sabha polls. BJP secured all four assembly seats in Bongaon in the 2021 elections.
Tanima Sen, the president of the Gaighata mandal (BJP-affiliated regional committee), had thrust herself into the fray as an Independent, before withdrawing her nomination suddenly on Tuesday.
She had strong words against SIR. “We do not support the removal of a large number of names from the electoral rolls in this manner under the SIR process,” she had said, adding, “We had strongly protested earlier and are raising this issue in our election campaign as well. Members of the Matua Thakur family have long misled people with false promises, further contributing to the erosion of the Matua community’s voting rights.”
Her reference was to Subrata Thakur, the BJP candidate from Gaighata. Local party workers claim that the candidature of Thakur — the BJP MLA from the seat — was announced in complete disregard of grassroots opinion.
Sen had also challenged the “family dominance” of the Thakur household. “My fight is against the family-centric politics of the Thakurbari. That is why I have chosen to contest as an Independent candidate,” she had said, accusing the MLA of failing to stand by party workers over the past five years and betraying public trust.
On Tuesday, after the rebel withdrew her nomination, Subrata Thakur addressed a press conference with her beside him. “Tanima is a fighter,” he said. “There had been some misunderstanding, which has now been resolved.”
Sen said she withdrew her nomination as she was “completely loyal” to the party. “I am with the party and will also take part in its campaigns.”
Discontent has been brewing in at least two of the four mandals in the constituency, where a section of leaders remains opposed to Subrata’s nomination.
The situation in Bagdah, North 24 Parganas, is similar. Here, the BJP has fielded Soma Thakur, wife of Union minister Shantanu Thakur, triggering allegations that the decision was imposed without consulting local organisational units. The move has sparked anger among party workers, with a section rallying behind two-time MLA Dulal Bar, who is now contesting as an Independent candidate.
Bar also makes no attempt to hide his contempt for SIR. “In the name of SIR, a large number of Matua voters have been deliberately removed from the electoral rolls,” he said. “Many names have been deleted in the Bagdah assembly constituency as well. A large number of people are angry with BJP leaders.”
In Gaighata, 61 BJP netas and workers joined TMC after largescale deletions from the final voter list triggered protests among local residents, mostly from the Matua community.
In Bagdah, too, nearly 50 families formally joined TMC. The new entrants were handed party flags by Mamatabala Thakur, chairperson of TMC’s Bongaon organisational district and Rajya Sabha MP.
The situation is bound to rattle the Bengal BJP brass. Bar, who has had a long political journey — from Congress to TMC and then to BJP — continues to wield considerable personal influence. And he, too, is opposed to the Thakur household’s dominance. “Our fight is against the family dominance of the Thakurbari and against the imposition of an outsider candidate. I am contesting as an Independent and, if elected, will serve the people independently,” he said.
BJP has long assured the Matua community — many of them migrants from Bangladesh — of citizenship and voting rights. However, recent developments have led to growing dissatisfaction among sections of the community, who feel the promises have not been kept.
Locals — many of whom have lived, and voted, in the area for decades — are also alleging that their names have been removed from the rolls via the “under adjudication” category. Many from within the Matua community claim the exercise amounts to targeted exclusion, rather than a routine administrative correction.
“We were promised citizenship, but it never came. Now, we are left helpless,” said Sukhomoy Haldar, a Gaighata resident, alleging “selective deletion” of Matua voters.
The Bongaon subdivision, home to large Matua refugee settlements, comprises people displaced from districts such as Noakhali, Barishal, Pabna, Khulna, and Kushtia in present-day Bangladesh. For many, SIR exclusion has triggered deep anxieties over identity and belonging.
In Joygachhi Mathpara of Gaighata, elderly Matua Suresh Chandra Baidya Sarkar expressed anguish after finding his name missing from the rolls. Having migrated from Barishal nearly four decades ago, he said the deletion has left his future uncertain.
The supplementary voter list published under SIR effectively left thousands like him and their families in a state of uncertainty. Despite years of assurances from BJP and sections of Matua leadership regarding citizenship, many are yet to receive certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Now, with their names removed from the rolls, their fears have deepened.
Ramesh Gayen of Bagdah, who applied for citizenship seven to eight months ago, said he had hoped to receive documentation before voter verification began. “The process did not move in months. With the election scheduled for April 29, I understand that I will not be able to vote this time,” he said.
Similarly, Yogesh Biswas of Gaighata said he had refrained from applying under CAA, hoping for clarity. “Those who applied have not yet received citizenship. It now seems I will miss voting,” he said.
Nabin Biswas, the working president of the All India Matua Mahasangha, said the community now realises that BJP’s citizenship promise requires applicants to first declare migration from Bangladesh, with unclear consequences. “We are asking community members to vote for a candidate from any political party that has worked in favour of the Matua community,” Biswas said.
Madhuparna Thakur, the TMC MLA and candidate from Bagdah, called the large-scale deletions “unfortunate”. She said she holds “those MPs and Union ministers, who had promised citizenship, “accountable”. BJP’s Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur acknowledged public anger, saying affected voters could approach tribunals, in line with Supreme Court directives, to seek restoration of their names.
BJP’s Bongaon organisational district president Bikash Ghosh said there was no factionalism within the party and alleged such claims were “entirely the handiwork” of TMC. “BJP will secure votes in all four assembly seats in Bongaon in the name of PM Narendra Modi. And the voters whose names have been deleted under SIR will definitely be reinstated soon,” Ghosh said.