On March 26, the BJP released its tenth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. One name that stood out was of Shantanu Thakur, the party’s choice for the Bongaon constituency in West Bengal.
Shantanu is the grandson of Binapani Devi (popularly known as Boro Ma), the matriarch of the Matua community. Till now a novice in politics, Shantanu’s candidature was not a shocking development, but an interesting one.
In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted his campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from West Bengal’s Thakurnagar, a part of Bongaon constituency, close to the India-Bangladesh border. Before addressing the crowd, the PM had met Binapani Devi.
The Wire has learnt that the prime minister had been invited to speak at the International Matua Mahasammelan by Shantanu.
It was a strategic move by the saffron party which aims to gain ground in Bengal to compensate for its potential losses in the Hindi heartland.
Also read: Understanding Bengal’s Namasudras, Who Are Divided Between TMC and BJP
The Matuas (Namasudras) are a closely-knit Scheduled Caste group with a presence in six parliamentary seats in West Bengal, making them one of the biggest vote banks in the state. Although no official count exists, it is estimated that there are about two crore Namasudra voters.
Political observers believe that the community was influential in dislodging the Congress government in Bengal in 1977 and bringing in Trinamool Congress (TMC) to power in 2011, overthrowing the 34-year rule of the Left government.
Divided Thakur family
In recent years, the family has been divided over its political leanings. Since 2009, the Matuas were mostly known to be Trinamool Congress supporters – the party also fielded members of the first family in elections.
Binapani Devi’s eldest son, Kapil Krishna Thakur joined the TMC and contested the 2014 general election from Bongaon constituency. When Kapil Krishna died in 2015, his widow won the seat in a by-election on behalf of Trinamool.
Shantanu Thakur. Credit: Twitter
Manjul Krishna Thakur, Boro Ma’s younger son was also with the TMC and served as the minister for micro, small and medium enterprises in 2011. But in 2015, he quit the TMC and joined the BJP along with his elder son, Subrata Thakur.
Subrata contested the 2015 Bongaon by-election – where the BJP pitted Subrata against his aunt Mamata Bala Thakur (Kapil Krishan’s wife). Mamata Bala won the election with a margin of over 211,000 votes, while Subrata secured third place.
Unlike most in the family, Manjul Krishna Thakur’s younger son Shantanu is suave, English speaking and has also spent some time in Australia. He is now leading the BJP faction of Matua community.
Rana Chakraborty, a resident of Thakurnagar said: “People don’t vote looking at the TMC’s candidate, people vote because of Mamata Banerjee.” Middle-aged Chakraborty explained that BJP has no strength in that area and he believes that just by wooing Matuas, the saffron party won’t win an election. “Matuas are not fools, they know which party is doing identity politics and they will not vote them.”
Death of Binapani Devi
Since prime minister’s rally in Thakurnagar, a lot has changed. On March 5, Matua matriarch Binapani Devi died due to multi-organ failure at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. Since Boro Ma’s death, the divide within the family has widened and the political stance of the community has become a mystery.
Boro Ma’s grandson Shantanu has openly spoken against and blamed his aunt and TMC leaders for the death of Binapani Devi.
Shantanu told The Wire that he suspects “Binapani Devi has been murdered. I have written to Prime Minister Modi requesting him to conduct an inquiry into Boro Ma’s death. If needed, a CBI inquiry should be ordered,” Shantanu said.
Binapani Devi was 101 when she died. According to SSKM hospital authorities, Binapani Thakur’s death was due to multi-organ failure and had pre-existing conditions including lung ailments.
Responding to the accusation, the Bongaon MP and Binapani Devi’s daughter-in-law told local media, “In an attempt to grab power, Shantanu Thakur is politicising Boro Ma’s death.”
Also read: In Bengal and Assam, BJP-TMC Tussle Over Namasudra Votes Has Reached New Heights
BJP picking Shantanu Thakur a gamble?
Shantanu Thakur has been pitted against his aunt and sitting TMC MP Mamata Bala Thakur. But despite the efforts from the top, BJP is unlikely to weaken the Trinamool’s hold over the Bongaon region.
Shantanu has publicly said that he will never “contest elections.” He even campaigned for “politics free Thakur family” and said he will work for the betterment of the Matua community but will never play “any role in electoral politics.”
Subhash Mondal, a local auto driver, said, “BJP can’t even find a candidate here, hence they announced Shantanu Thakur’s name. Nobody outside this Thakurnagar area knows him.”
After the saffron party announced Shantanu’s name, he told The Wire: “The Matua community demanded that I should contest the Lok Sabha election. It’s just for them I decided to contest from Bongaon.”
Shantanu opined that the community felt let down by Mamata Bala Thakur’s work as a politician. “She is working against the Matua community. She has finished the movement of immigrants, which is the foundation of the Matua community.”
Saikat Sarkar, a medical practitioner belonging to the Matua community, is angry with the TMC government: “TMC has destroyed the democracy in Bengal. We need to see BJP in power and no one can do that other than Shantanu Thakur.”
Aurobindo Biswas, spokesperson for the All India Matua Mahasangha said that to save the Matua community, Shantanu will be contesting the election. “Matuas feel that someone should represent the community at the floor of parliament and there is no better one than Shantanu Thakur,” Biswas said.
“His (Shantanu Thakur’s) decision to contest election proves that all these years he has just lied. People are watching and they will answer on election day,” Mamata Bala Thakur told reporters.
State food and supplies minister and senior Trinamool leader, Jyotipriya Mullick told The Wire, “BJP’s decision to field Shantanu is helping us. People have understood that he is a cheat.”
Local TMC leaders from Thakurnagar, who don’t want to be named, said, “BJP cannot win an election with 100 workers.” He further explained that the BJP was very happy when a huge crowd turned up for Modi’s event in Thakurnagar, but they don’t understand that “these are poor people who came to see the prime minister, not to vote for the BJP.”
Taking a different viewpoint, political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said that the notion that Matua votes can influence the election result is a myth. “Matua’s caste identity will not influence the outcome of the election in Bongaon,” he said.
Chakraborty further explained that any party which wins Matua-dominated Bongaon will do so solely because of the party’s organisational strength not by playing caste-identity politics.
Himadri Ghosh is a Kolkata-based journalist.