Matua anger over SIR: TMC-backed group calls for road blockades in Bengal on Monday

Kolkata, Jan 5 (PTI) Anger over voter list revisions and the alleged assault on a Matua 'gosai' in West Bengal's Thakurnagar led a TMC-backed group representing the community to call for statewide road blockades on Monday.

The protest call was issued by the Trinamool Congress-supported faction of All India Matua Mahasangha over the alleged exclusion of “legitimate voters” during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

The immediate trigger was an alleged attack on a Matua 'gosai' from Shyamnagar, who had gone to the Thakurnagar temple complex in North 24 Parganas district, seeking answers after his name was reportedly dropped from the voter list.

TMC-backed Matua leaders have accused supporters of Union minister Shantanu Thakur of assaulting him, a charge rejected by the BJP camp.

Matua politics has been on edge since December 24, when protests over the draft electoral rolls turned the Thakurnagar temple precinct into a flashpoint.

TMC leaders claimed several supporters of Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Thakur were injured during clashes allegedly involving followers of Shantanu Thakur.

Since then, resentment within sections of the Matua community has intensified, with leaders describing the incident as a “humiliating blow” to 'gosais'.

The Mahasangha alleged that cadres linked to the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, acting at the behest of Shantanu Thakur, had mounted a “planned attack” on Matua religious leaders.

It said Monday’s road blockades would demand an immediate probe into the assault and restoration of deleted voters in the electoral rolls, The protests come as the EC’s SIR draft rolls and the impending second phase of verification hearings inject fresh uncertainty into the BJP’s Matua vote base, which has underpinned the party’s rise in around 40–50 assembly constituencies since 2019.

For the Matuas, a Dalit Hindu refugee community that migrated from Bangladesh over decades following religious persecution, the first statewide SIR since 2002 has revived anxieties around identity and citizenship.

With a decisive presence across North 24 Parganas, Nadia and parts of South 24 Parganas, the community now finds itself at the centre of an electoral churn with potential consequences for the 2026 polls.

The draft rolls released after the first round of scrutiny have heightened apprehension among Matua families, many of whom fear the second phase of hearings could expose documentation gaps and lead to loss of voting rights.

Statewide, 58,20,898 names have been excluded post the publication of the draft rolls, reducing West Bengal’s electorate from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore.

Beyond deletions, EC data show about 1.36 crore entries flagged for logical discrepancies and nearly 30 lakh voters categorised as unmapped, taking the number of voters who may be called for hearings in the second phase to around 1.66 crore.

Matua leaders across party lines claim a disproportionate share of these voters belong to their community. PTI PNT BDC