During his visit on the invitation of PM Sheikh Hasina, Modi will attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of Bangladesh’s independence, birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the 50th year of ties between the two nations.
Matua face and BJP Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur will be at Orakandi during Modi’s trip, the first such visit by an Indian PM.
Orakandi is the birthplace of Matua gurus Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur and the cradle of the Matua Mahasangha that largely comprises Namasudras..
“We will have a huge gathering of Matua members. The PM will offer prayers at the temple,” said Thakur. After Rajbanshis in north Bengal, Matua is a Hindu religious sect that has been determining fates of candidates in at least seven seats in North 24 Parganas and Nadia.
Most seats where the Matuas have considerable influence will go to polls in the fifth phase (April 17) and seventh phase (April 26). Since Independence, Matuas have been migrating from Orakandi to this part of Bengal, particularly in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas.
This continued even after the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Harichand-Guruchand descendant P R Thakur was a Congress minister in 1962 while his widow Binapani Devi sided with Mamata Banerjee. Matuas largely shifted towards BJP during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after Modi promised them the citizenship they have been demanding since 2003.
Mamata too showered bounties on them. A large section of Matuas is still eyeing the implementation of the CAA that was put on the backburner after Union home minister Amit Shah announced that the Centre was committed to implementing CAA but only after “the vaccination process is over”.
