Subrata, grandson of PR Thakur and Matua matriarch Baroma Binapani Devi, explains how his family prioritized not only social dignity but also education and employment to ensure the upliftment of the community. Incidentally, PR Thakur was the first barrister from the deprived Namasudra community. TOI met Subrata at the sprawling Thakurbari complex in Thakurnagar, Gaighata, North 24 Parganas, where he is the sitting MLA and
BJP Candidates for the April 29 election.
But this election is more complicated than before for him and other BJP leaders from the Matua belt. Along with the scorching heat of April, they are facing political heat from the massive voter-list deletion under SIR.
Subrata does not deny the restlessness. But he emphasizes that these are not actual exclusions, saying most of the cases relate to the earlier SIR in 2002. According to him, the problem was caused by glitches, missing uploads and political sabotage. He says that BJP is helping people to fill Form 6 and get their names restored.
His message to the community is simple, don’t panic, you are safe in India, CAA is there, and BJP will take back your names. Then comes the line that could define the BJP’s defense in the region. “When you clean your house, sometimes some glass gets broken,” he says. Subrata explains how Partition, migration, refugee life and the long struggle for documents shaped the community. Even after seven decades of independence, that struggle has not ended completely.
The numbers show why the concern is real. Of the 142 assembly seats that went to polls in the second phase, 12,87,622 voters were removed during the judicial decision. In North 24 Parganas, the district with the highest Matua population, 5,91,252 voters were held under adjudication and 3,25,666 were disqualified.
In the Bongaon belt, the damage is more acute politically. In Gaighata, the second phase count put the number of post-judicial deletions at 19,638. Of the 13,459 cases identified in Baghdad, 5,890 were quarantined, with 15,303 people quarantined out of a total of 263,142 voters in the constituency. TOI has earlier reported that 36,000 of those removed in four Matua-heavy constituencies belong to the community. In Nadia, Matua dominated Ranaghat North East and Ranaghat South saw 20,796 and 17,411 deletions, respectively.
The CAA, often touted as a lifeline, is more complex at the ground level. The help center located in Thakurbari complex looked deserted. Some locals say that the applications have hit a bottleneck. Others say that many Matuas have not applied because doing so would be an admission that they are not already citizens of India. Asked about the delay, Subrata says the Union Home Ministry is doing detailed cross-checking.
This is now BJP’s big pitch in Matua belt. Both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have returned to the Matua question in recent times, promising citizenship, documents and protection to Hindu families of refugee origin. PM Modi mentioned his visit to Orakandi, the birthplace of Harichand Thakur in Bangladesh, and promised citizenship for Matua and Namasudra families. Amit Shah has held Mamata Banerjee responsible for the removal of Matua name and accused TMC of spreading fear.
TMC has turned the same issue into an allegation of betrayal. In Haringhata, Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of humiliating and depriving the Matuas after promising them citizenship and jobs. He said the BJP is shedding “crocodile tears” for the community and claimed that the TMC stands with the voters removed from the SIR form-fill-up kiosks to the Supreme Court.
Mamata Banerjee has framed SIR as a big identity fight. During the campaign in Chakdah, Bongaon and Habra, he called the practice the “got-up game” and compared it to Chaitra sales, saying that some members of a family were involved while others were not. In Kolkata, concluding his campaign, he asked voters to “once again stand in line” and use the ballot to teach the BJP a lesson.
Subrata rejected the allegation. He says the fear is being created by TMC, which is telling people that those whose names are missing will be chased away. He also accused the Mamata Banerjee government of helping Bangladeshis through fake documents.
After this he returns to Matua history. He talks of a time when the Matuas were denied respect, treated as Chandalas, pushed to the margins of villages and denied the right to worship with respect. Invoking Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur, he said that this movement was built not only around faith but also around education, work and self-respect.
That history is at the center of politics here. The Matuas, who came primarily from the Namasudra caste and whose roots are in present-day Bangladesh, found both a spiritual center and a political base in Thakurnagar. Subrata says his grandfather PR Thakur, while part of the Congress, ensured major improvements in infrastructure and education in the region. But he blames the non-extension of the Nehru-Liaquat Pact for leaving those who came later struggling for citizenship.
In the last few elections, the BJP has taken advantage of this insecurity through the promise of CAA. The result was clear. In 2021, BJP won four Matua-heavy assembly seats in Bongaon subdivision, which are Gaighata, Bagdah, Bongaon North and Bongaon South. She remained ahead among the four in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections also. It also performed strongly in the Matua-dominated areas of Nadia.
The Matuas, the second largest Scheduled Caste group in Bengal, are estimated to influence 50 to 70 assembly seats. But this time, BJP is defending that base under pressure. Subrata underestimates Mamata’s reach to the community. She says she came to Baroma before 2011 because she needed Matua votes, but after Muslim support became stronger, the Matuas became indispensable to her.
The atmosphere on the ground is mixed. Some voters say their names are intact and the BJP will be fine. Others say that one member of the family has been removed while the rest remain. Some people still trust BJP to solve the problem. Others say many of those affected were BJP supporters, and anger over being removed may now push a section towards TMC. The atmosphere in Thakurnagar, just outside the campus, was also gloomy.
There is also Thakurbari partition there.
Subrata Thakur is contesting from BJP in Gaighata. In nearby Bagdah, the BJP has fielded Soma Thakur, wife of Union minister Shantanu Thakur, against Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur and sitting TMC MLA. Shantanu is the younger brother of Subrata. The once undivided Matua federation is now divided into factions, and Mamata Bala’s faction has not supported the CAA for its followers.
So it is not just BJP vs TMC. It is also a fight within the most influential Matua family of Bengal. In Thakurnagar, the question is not just whether the names come back. The point is whether the trust returns with them or not. For years, the BJP told the Matuas that this would end their uncertainty. SIR has brought that uncertainty back into the campaign.
Therefore Subrata’s line may stretch long. “When you clean your house, sometimes some glass gets broken.” Broken glass always leaves a mark. Whether this will leave any stain on BJP’s fortunes or not, the answer will be known on May 4.
