BJP bags Matua bastion in Bongaon, Shantanu Thakur records straight second term

Kolkata, Jun 4 (PTI) Union minister and prominent Matua Community leader Shantanu Thakur retained the refugee-dominated Bongaon seat, where the elections served as a crucial test for the BJP's key agenda following the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules.

Thakur retained the Matua bastion of Bongoan Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 73,000 votes.

He bagged 7,19,505 votes against his nearest TMC rival Biswajit Das got 6,45,812 votes.

Thakur, a prominent leader of the Matua community, entered politics just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He secured victory in the Bongaon (SC) Lok Sabha seat, which has a significant Matua population, by an impressive margin of 1,11,594 votes, capturing around 48 per cent of the total votes cast.

Known for his vocal support of the CAA, Thakur was appointed the Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways in a cabinet reshuffle in July 2019.

He is a key figure in the All India Matua Mahasangha and comes from a political family. His father, Manjul Krishna Thakur, is a former TMC minister, and his brother, Subrata Thakur, serves as a BJP MLA in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

The constituency, currently held by the BJP, has emerged as a crucible where politics intertwines with identity, and where the promises of ideological agendas meet with the realities of their implementation.

No wonder then that ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Bongaon has become a focal point of intense political manoeuvring, with the BJP, emboldened by the recent notification of CAA rules, positioning itself as the harbinger of hope for the Matuas by tapping into their aspirations for recognition and security. PTI PNT NN