Matuas met Rahul Gandhi in Bihar, sought support from Cong on citizenship demand: Adhir

Kolkata, Sep 3 (PTI) A delegation of the politically significant Matua community of West Bengal met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Bihar last week, and sought the party’s support for their long-standing demand for citizenship, senior leader Adhir Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

Gandhi, who was leading the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in the neighbouring state, asked them to come to Delhi, where a detailed discussion on the issue could be held, Chowdhury told PTI.

Matuas, originally from East Pakistan, are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh, following religious persecution.

The SC community holds sway over several constituencies in the state, where assembly elections are due next year. Both TMC and BJP have lawmakers from the Matua group.

"Rahul ji met the delegation from the Matua community on Saturday at Ekma in Saran district of Bihar and listened to their problems for some time. He told them to come to Delhi, where he would listen to them elaborately on their demand for citizenship and possibly throw some light on what could be their next course of action," Chowdhury said.

Though the Matuas possess voter cards, Aadhaar cards, and ration cards, the community members have been demanding “legal citizenship” as those documents do not suffice as proof of that.

The former state Congress president said that members of the group had met him in Murshidabad a few weeks ago when they expressed their interest in supporting the grand old party of the country.

"They believe that under Rahul ji's leadership, they would be able to get their dues, as they think that both TMC and BJP have used them for their political benefits. They were quite influenced by Rahulji's leadership in the movement against the SIR of the electoral rolls. I advised them to go and meet Rahul ji during the yatra," Chowdhury said.

When contacted by PTI, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh declined to make any statement on the meeting.

Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha did not want to give any importance to the matter.

"Anyone from anywhere claiming to belong to the Matua community will not get any attention. This is a very insignificant thing to gain any attention," the former state BJP president said. PTI SCH NN