Kolkata: The BJP, which has been alert to its failures and abandonment, is now facing a new challenge in West Bengal. That is the anger of the leaders of the Matua community, a major vote bank that helped the party win several seats apart from playing a key role in the 2021 assembly elections and the earlier 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The discontent of the Matua leaders against the BJP came to the fore on Tuesday when Shantanu Thakur, the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, distanced himself from various WhatsApp groups of the Bengal BJP. An MP from Bangaon, Thakur is a veteran of the Matua community, who is also the president of the All India Matua Mahasangh, a religious and cultural organization of the community. His move came after a group of legislators from the community parted ways with various WhatsApp groups of the state BJP.

They are angry with the BJP because the Matua leaders were not given any representation in the recently revised state committee released by the party. He emphasized that even the leaders of his community have not got proper representation in the organizational areas and district committees constituted by the party, even in areas with a substantial Matua population.

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