West Bengal CM to hold protest rally in Matua heartland over SIR on Nov 25

Kolkata, Nov 21 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a rally at Trikone Park on November 25 before leading a 3-km march from Chandpara to Thakurnagar, the Matua spiritual headquarters, as part of her campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Banerjee's move marks the latest escalation in her campaign against the SIR of electoral rolls, a drive she has denounced as "coercive" and "chaotic," and which has triggered deep anxiety across the refugee belts of North and South Bengal.

Her choice of Bongaon, the symbolic seat of Matua political consciousness, reflects both the scale of unrest and the high-stakes battle for a community that has shaped Bengal's electoral arithmetic for nearly a decade.

According to TMC leaders, Banerjee will fly from Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon, with a temporary helipad being prepared at Pratapgarh ground on Chakdah Road.

The public meeting at Trikone Park is scheduled for 1 pm, following which she will walk to Thakurnagar, home to the Thakur family whose influence dominates the community's political choices.

Senior leaders Jyotipriyo Mallick and Bongaon district president Biswajit Das have held a series of meetings on logistics and mobilisation.

They inspected Pratapgarh ground and Bongaon High School ground for the helicopter landing arrangements on Friday.

Das said the programme is driven by widespread panic over SIR.

He said large sections of the population in the border districts, including Matuas, Scheduled Caste groups and families with cross-border origins, have been living in fear, with many worried about document scrutiny.

Several suicides reported from the districts have intensified the unrest, he added.

TMC leaders said Banerjee's message in Bongaon will be that the state government stands with affected people and will "not allow anyone to intimidate them." They maintained that the Matua community, despite political noise, remains largely aligned with Trinamool because of schemes and welfare programmes launched over the past decade.

The political backdrop, however, is far more complex. The BJP has built an aggressive campaign around the Citizenship Amendment Act and refugee rights, banking heavily on the Matuas since 2019.

The party's Bongaon MP, Shantanu Thakur, a key Matua face, has been at loggerheads with TMC, accusing it of blocking citizenship processes and spreading fear.

The SIR exercise has further deepened the political divide.

The TMC alleges that the revision drive is being used as a tool to target border populations and "disenfranchise" them ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

The BJP, on the other hand, claims the state government is "misleading" people to shield its "illegal vote-bank." Banerjee's scheduled protest rally came after days of protests by Matua groups and a sit-in led by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mamatabala Thakur over alleged harassment under SIR.

The agitation drew national attention after a photograph of BJP MP Shantanu Thakur holidaying abroad went viral, prompting sharp criticism from TMC leaders.

Mamatabala, who is also aunt of Shantanu Thakur, said Banerjee has assured that she is monitoring the situation closely and is committed to standing by the distressed community.

She said the SIR exercise has created a "serious humanitarian crisis" among Matua families.

Banerjee had earlier taken out a massive march in Kolkata on November 4, the day SIR started in Bengal, from the Ambedkar statue on Red Road to Jorasanko Thakurbari, with TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee joining her.

Tuesday's Bongaon mobilisation will be her second major street protest against SIR, and will be watched for its political signals ahead of a volatile election year. PTI PNT MNB