Mahua Moitra Under Fire as Matua Party Criticises Her Despite TMC Ties

6 September-Kolkata, India: Many BJP leaders have filed a lawsuit against TMC MP Mahua Moitra for her remarks on Matuas, but the TMC-backed Matua party has now criticised the Krishnanagar MP in a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mamata Bala Thakur, the Rajya Sabha Member of the All India Matua Mahasangha, wrote a complaint letter to the West Bengal CM in which she said that Mahua’s comments have caused harm to the Matua people, but she has not expressed regret.

Moitra’s speech on Matuas

On 28th August, Mahua Moitra gave a speech about the Matuas in Karimpur, where she said “What kind of approach is this when one is with Trinamool Congress around the year, and then behaves like a traditional Hindu before the elections?.. A Scheduled Caste woman receives Rs 1,200 through the Laxmi Bhandar scheme, and when the SC/ST Namasudra booths open the ballot boxes, they reveal 85 votes for the BJP and 15 for other parties.

She further added that “What kind of approach is this when one is with Trinamool Congress around the year, and then behaves like a traditional Hindu before the elections?.. A Scheduled Caste woman receives Rs 1,200 through the Laxmi Bhandar scheme, and when the poll workers open the ballot boxes in the SC/ST Namasudra booths, they count 85 votes for the BJP and 15 for other parties.

The Namasudras, a Scheduled Caste group that moved from modern-day Bangladesh, are the Matuas.

Matuas community criticize Moitra

The general secretary of the Matua outfit, Sukesh Chowdhury wrote a signed letter to the CM where he said “We had earlier sent a message to Moitra through the media, asking her to withdraw her comments and apologise unconditionally. But she has refused to do so as yet. That is why we have written a letter to the chief minister on behalf of the All India Matua Mahasangh. We have faith in the chief minister that she will definitely intervene in the matter and censure Mahua for hurting the religious sentiments of the Matuas.” The Matua group also staged a protest march in Bangaon on Friday.

Mukul Biswas, chairman of the All India Matua Mahasangha’s legal cell, said that TMC was in trouble due to Mahua Moitra’s repeated comments, which had left many Matua voters uncertain about supporting the party in the upcoming Assembly polls. He added that unless she apologised, the BJP would benefit. He also alleged that she was close to Rahul Gandhi, had accepted expensive gifts from traders, and questioned whether she had also taken gifts from the BJP.

“If she doesn’t apologise within the next 48 hours,” Biswas threatened, he would move the Calcutta High Court against the TMC MP.

BJP filed complaint against Moitra

After Mahua Moitra’s speech went viral, the BJP party also filed a lawsuit against the Krishnanagar MP especially in the Matua-dominated areas. Many BJP leaders also criticized her of “insulting the Scheduled Caste Matua community and “hurting the religious sentiments of Sanatanis”

Mahua Moitra also highlighted about the BJP and the Sanatan Dharma in her Karimpur speech where she said “BJP leaders are the only Hindus certified to speak on behalf of all Hindus. Sanatan Dharma has been leased out to them for an indefinite period, and they, in turn, can peddle it for their benefit. The rest of us are all lowly insects watching in awe at this amazing new version of BJP Hinduism.”