Feud erupts in Matua head family as Thakur brothers clash; BJP uneasy, TMC sees opportunity

Kolkata, Aug 25 (PTI) A quarrel within the head family of the politically significant Matua community has erupted into open feud between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his elder brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, leaving West Bengal’s political circles abuzz with the fallout ahead of the assembly polls.

The confrontation has left the state BJP leadership squirming in discomfort, unsure how to handle the rift within a community it banks on electorally, while the TMC is gleefully eyeing the discord as an opportunity to needle its saffron rivals.

What began on Sunday as a row over the Union minister’s loyalists organising a camp at the Natmandir in Thakurnagar, the nerve-centre of the Matua community, has escalated into a full-blown battle of accusations.

Subrata, the Gaighata legislator, objected to the event on the grounds that the venue was traditionally reserved for cultural and religious programmes.

The fight saw both camps trading charges - Shantanu’s supporters accusing the MLA of threatening devotees, while Subrata countered, claiming that his brother was attempting to monopolise control over community institutions.

Shantanu accused his elder sibling of harbouring ministerial ambitions and even plotting a defection to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Subrata, in turn, alleged that the Union minister was cornering powers within the Thakur family and usurping community spaces.

The divisions within the family are now stark.

Subrata has the backing of their mother Chhabirani Thakur, aunt and TMC MP Mamatabala Thakur, and cousin Madhuparna Thakur, a Trinamool Congress legislator.

Shantanu, however, has found support in his father Manjulkrishna Thakur, the head servitor of the All India Matua Mahasangha and a former TMC minister, who released a video message from Delhi condemning Subrata’s behaviour and reaffirming faith in his younger son.

The confrontation has left the state BJP leadership uneasy, and the leadership kept silence.

“This is the last thing we need before elections,” admitted a senior BJP functionary.

“Subrata is an MLA, Shantanu is a Union minister, both are indispensable to us. The party cannot be seen taking sides in a family matter. We hope the brothers resolve it themselves,” a senior BJP leader in the Bongaon organisational district told PTI.

Both state president Shamik Bhattacharya and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari have reportedly advised cadres to remain mum.

The TMC is reveling in the rift, with a party insider quipping, “The BJP is imploding from within." Political observers say the spat is an echo of a long history of internecine rivalries in the Thakurbari, where factional feuds have punctuated the Matua politics for decades.

Earlier splits were witnessed between Shantanu-Subrata’s father Manjulkrishna and late Kapil Krishna Thakur, as well as between their aunt Mamatabala and the brothers themselves.

On Sunday, Subrata had publicly accused his brother of manipulating the distribution of caste certificates and “Matua cards” issued in the name of the Mahasangha, charging that genuine Namasudra beneficiaries were being deprived of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) benefits.

“Shantanu is exploiting religious sentiments for political dividends. He has usurped the Harichand-Guruchand temple and is acting like a dictator,” Subrata had alleged.

Shantanu, the BJP MP from Bongaon, dismissed the charges as “political jealousy”, asserting that the community remains firmly behind him.

The Matuas, a backward-caste Hindu sect founded by Harichand Thakur in the 19th century, form a significant vote bank in North 24 Parganas and adjoining Nadia. Guruchand Thakur was his son.

Many members of the community, who migrated from erstwhile East Pakistan during Partition and the 1971 Liberation War, have applied for Indian citizenship under the CAA.

Their political allegiance has swung between the BJP and the TMC, making the community a decisive factor in at least six Lok Sabha constituencies and dozens of Assembly segments.

For the BJP, winning back the Matua community, whose votes were instrumental in its 2019 Lok Sabha sweep in parts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia, is critical. It has managed to retain the Matua bastion in 2021 assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

With the 2026 Assembly polls drawing nearer, political analysts say the BJP cannot afford a rupture within the Thakur family that could alienate sections of the Matua electorate. PTI PNT NN