The Centre’s transfer to inform the Citizenship (Modification) Act (CAA) guidelines forward of the Lok Sabha elections was perceived as a game-changer in West Bengal’s political panorama. The choice was anticipated to considerably enhance the Bharatiya Janata Occasion’s (BJP) place within the state. The implementation of those guidelines had lengthy been advocated by a piece of Dalit refugees, often known as the Matuas, who fled non secular persecution in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and settled in West Bengal.
The CAA goals to facilitate citizenship for migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who entered India on or earlier than December 31, 2014. The Matuas, who represent over 17% of the Scheduled Castes (SC) in West Bengal, are amongst those that stand to profit from this modification. They symbolize the second-largest SC group within the state after the Rajbongshis, who comprise greater than 18% of North Bengal’s SC inhabitants.
Many Await Recognition
Regardless of important progress in granting citizenship to many Matuas, a big part nonetheless awaits recognition as a consequence of an absence of correct documentation. Their issues have been additional heightened by the prospect of the Nationwide Register of Residents (NRC) implementation in neighbouring Assam, the place reviews emerged of Hindus going through deportation as a consequence of insufficient identification.
Whereas the citizenship rule amendments have been welcomed in Matua-dominated areas, they confronted opposition from the Rajbongshis. Organisations led by Rajbongshi leaders have been advocating for a separate state of Higher Cooch Behar, encompassing seven districts of North Bengal, in addition to Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, and Dhubri in Assam.
On Sunday, June 9, when Narendra Modi and his cupboard took oath, a notable absentee was a younger face from West Bengal. BJP’s Nisith Pramanik, who received the Coochbehar Parliamentary seat with a major margin in 2019, misplaced to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate on this election by over 39,000 votes. This defeat is seen partly as a referendum reflecting the Rajbongshi organisations’ perspective on the CAA, which they understand as legitimising “unlawful” residents of their territory.
Rajbongshis Jittery
Regardless of the BJP’s efforts to reassure the Rajbongshis by nominating Ananta Rai (formally Nagendra Ray) to the Rajya Sabha final yr, tensions persevered. Rai, bearing the title of “Maharaj” as a descendant of the previous ruler of Cooch Behar, distanced himself from Pramanik’s election marketing campaign despite the fact that Pramanik had reportedly performed a task in Rai’s nomination to the higher home of Parliament.
In different constituencies in North Bengal with a major Rajbongshi presence, comparable to Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, and Darjeeling, the BJP secured victories with narrower margins, besides in Raiganj, the place its lead elevated by roughly 8,000 votes.
Within the seat dominated by the members of the Matua neighborhood in Bangaon, the BJP’s Santanu Thakur retained his Lok Sabha seat, albeit with a lowered margin. Within the 2019 normal election, he had defeated his aunt and TMC chief Mamat Thakur, the then-sitting MP from Bongaon, by over 1.1 lakh votes, thus changing into the primary non-TMC candidate to win on this constituency since its delimitation in 2009. Thakur additionally serves because the chief of All India Matua Mahasangha, headquartered in Bangaon.
The aunt, now a Rajya Sabha member, has been alleging that the CAA will do extra hurt than good to the refugees. In the meantime, Santanu Thakur’s margin of victory decreased to lower than 74,000 votes in 2024. Apparently, even the meeting section of Bagdah, vacated by TMC candidate Biswajit Das to contest the Lok Sabha seat in opposition to Santanu Thakur, gave the BJP candidate a lead of over 20,000 votes.
Assist For TMC
In different constituencies with a substantial presence of Matuas, comparable to Ranaghat, the BJP retained its seat with a slight lower in margin. In adjoining Krishnanagar, the TMC retained the seat. 4 of the meeting segments, largely rural with a major minority inhabitants, overwhelmingly supported the TMC candidate. The BJP, nonetheless, did properly in city Krishnanagar Uttar, main by over 53,000 votes, and in addition in Krishnanagar Dakshin and Tehatta. Krishnanagar Uttar was received by former TMC chief Mukul Roy within the 2021 meeting polls on a BJP ticket, however he has been ailing and out of the general public eye for a while.
Notably, Tehatta favoured TMC within the 2021 meeting election when Tapas Kumar Saha beat the BJP’s Ashutosh Paul by over 6,000 votes. Nevertheless, within the 2024 parliamentary polls, the identical section gave the BJP candidate a lead of over 8,000 votes.
Elsewhere, in areas the place the state witnessed protests after the introduction of the Invoice in 2019, the TMC retained the Howrah and Murshidabad seats and captured Baharampur from five-time winner Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The minority-dominated areas noticed probably the most protests because the invoice excluded Muslim refugees from its advantages.
In conclusion, it’s too early to dismiss the political implications of the CAA. The decision, nonetheless, signifies that the CAA had a marginal impression on the result. All of it boils all the way down to how eligible candidates acquire citizenship sooner or later. Maybe a clearer image will emerge throughout the West Bengal meeting elections in 2026.
(Jayanta Bhattacharya is a senior journalist writing on polls and politics, battle, farmer and human curiosity points)
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the creator
