Matua misery: SIR voter deletions push community into citizenship crisis and uncertainty
Telegraph | 4 May 2026
Binata Biswas, a Matua homemaker in her late 50s from Asan Nagar in Nadia, slowly shook her head when asked who she would vote for during a conversation before the April 29 vote.
“I am no longer a voter,” she said, her voice weighed down by resignation.
Her name was deleted during the SIR, which has triggered a deep crisis across Bengal’s politically crucial Matua community.
Binata is not an isolated case. Her family migrated from Bangladesh in the late 1990s and managed to secure a place on the voters’ list in 2003. Like many others anticipating trouble, she applied for citizenship last December, but the process is stalled.
“All of us are no longer voters due to the SIR. We apprehended such an outcome, so we applied for citizenship. But no hearing has taken place so far, and we won’t be able to vote this time. This should not have been done,” said her son Rahul.
A similar sense of unease coursed through the Matua belt in Nadia and North 24-Parganas.
Krishna Das, 36, from Helencha in Bagdah — but originally from Narail in Bangladesh — had applied for a citizenship certificate even before the SIR began. He was issued a certificate, which helped him secure his presence on the voter rolls, but his wife Sima was not so lucky.
“My problem has been solved. But what about those who were excluded from the voters’ list, like my wife, and have not been issued citizenship certificates so far?” he asked.
In Bongaon, Ratan Biswas, 54, presented a study in contrast. A Matua and a staunch supporter of the Trinamool Congress, he was removed from the rolls during the SIR for not being able to map himself with the 2002 list, despite voting since 2006.
Yet, he has refused to apply for citizenship, placing his faith instead in chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He believes his voting rights will be restored through legal means by Mamata.
These three lives reflect a larger fault line within the Matua community — a migrant, historically marginalised Hindu sect whose political weight has grown into a decisive electoral factor in Bengal. For decades, their inclusion in the voters’ list served as a fragile anchor of identity.
The SIR, which has led to the deletion of over 90 lakh names across the state, has shaken that anchor.
Reports suggest that the SIR axe had fallen on nearly 70 per cent of families in Matua-dominated districts, sparking fears not only of disenfranchisement but also of losing access to welfare benefits tied to an official identity.
At the heart of the crisis lies a deeper question of belonging. As migrants from Bangladesh, most Matuas continue to grapple with an unresolved citizenship status. For them, citizenship is not merely a legal document but the ultimate resolution of an enduring identity crisis. Yet, without that certificate, reinstatement in the voters’ list remains nearly impossible — leaving thousands in a limbo where they are residents without recognition and voting rights.
This has created a complex political dilemma, particularly for the BJP, which has enjoyed significant support from the community in recent years.
The party faced a critical question this election: how will those who remain on the rolls respond to the disenfranchisement of their family members? Will they continue to support the BJP in the hope of a long-promised citizenship, or will anger over the loss of voting rights translate into a shift in allegiance?
The concern is not merely theoretical. BJP leaders privately acknowledge that those excluded from the rolls could emerge as “influential voices” within their communities, discouraging others from voting for the party. The answer may lie in the May 4 results.
This is despite a prevailing belief among many that applying for citizenship under the law introduced by the BJP remains their only viable path — even if it entails the temporary loss of voting rights.
The political stakes were further heightened by the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, on April 23, pledged that the issue of citizenship certificates would be fast-tracked if the BJP came to power in Bengal.
The assurance was reiterated by Union home minister Amit Shah two days later.
What would be the fate of the Matuas and their coveted citizenship status if the BJP does not come to power? The party leadership couldn’t offer an immediate reply except claiming that the BJP at the Centre would fulfil the citizenship promises.
Yet, on the ground, BJP leaders conceded that the reassurance by Modi and Shah might have come too late to fully neutralise the prevailing discontent. “Such assurance was long awaited. It would have been better if it had come much earlier,” said BJP’s Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar.
The Matua community, rooted in a 19th-century reform movement led by Harichand Thakur, migrated to India in phases, particularly after 1971, fleeing religious persecution. Despite being absorbed into the electoral system over time, their legal status remained unresolved under the Citizenship Act of 2003. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), introduced later, was projected as a solution, but its implementation has been tardy and procedurally complex.
Some Matuas are also reluctant to apply for citizenship. Many already have the necessary identity documents, and fear that a citizenship application would mark them out as “Bangladeshis”, a narrative shaped by the Trinamool Congress.
For those who were axed from the rolls but had applied for citizenship before the SIR began, ground realities reflect a gap in administrative alacrity.
In Nadia, hearings have been conducted for only around 15,000 of the 46,200 citizenship applications received till the third week of April. In North 24-Parganas, of nearly 60,000 applications, hearings have been held for barely 20,000. The slow pace has only deepened anxiety within the community.
“There is reluctance because many people do not have documents proving their roots in Bangladesh,” said pro-BJP Matua leader Mahitosh Baidya of the All India Matua Mahasangha. “Those who fled overnight due to persecution could not carry papers. We have demanded that citizenship be granted without such requirements.”
Trinamool alleged that the SIR has led to targeted exclusion and widespread harassment. “The SIR alone will finish the BJP not just in the Matua belt but across Bengal,” said pro-Trinamool Matua leader and party’s Rajya Sabha member Mamatabala Thakur.
BJP leaders, however, rejected this narrative, arguing that the community remains aligned with their broader promise of resolving the citizenship issue.
“Initially, there was resentment, but it has subsided. People want change and a permanent solution to their identity crisis. The process has begun, though it is slow,” said Matua patriarch MLA Subrata Thakur, brother of BJP Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur.
Even so, apprehensions abound. Many within the community feel “cheated” by the gap between promise and delivery, compounded by the loss of voting rights. Others, particularly those still on the rolls, are torn between anger over the exclusion of family members and the belief that citizenship could eventually secure their future.
The electoral arithmetic adds another layer of complexity. With nearly 80 per cent of the deleted voters — around 63 lakh — belonging to the Hindu community, the potential impact on the BJP’s support base is significant.
However, leaders such as Shantanu Thakur appeared unperturbed. “Even if it is a problem now, we should accept this for the sake of the well-being of the community,” the BJP MP said, adding that it will eventually help the party to consolidate its support base.
BJP candidate Ashim Biswas from Ranaghat Northeast was also optimistic. “About 5,000-7,000 names have been deleted, but it won’t affect the result. Seventy per cent of voters here are Matuas, and they will vote against Trinamool over corruption and unemployment. The SIR issue will not change that,” he said.