Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives for an official visit to Nadia district, in Krishnanagar on Tuesday. (PTI Photo)CHIEF MINISTER Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday reached Nadia district for a three-day visit and held meetings with party leaders, including BJP MLA Mukul Roy, who returned to the Trinamool Congress after the 2021 Assembly polls.
Sources said that during the meeting, Banerjee sent a strong message to party leaders and workers to stop the infighting in Nadia district. TMC MP Mahua Moitra, state minister Ujjwal Biswas, party’s Krishnanagar organisational district president Kallol Khan and others were present at the meeting. Party sources said Banerjee expressed displeasure at the growing infighting in the district and asked Khan to put an end to it. According to a party insider, the TMC chairperson wants to set her party in order ahead of next year’s state panchayat polls.
On Wednesday, Banerjee is scheduled to address a party workers’ meeting at Krishnanagar where she is likely to reach out to the Matua community, which has a strong presence in Nadia district.
With the BJP promising to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), all eyes will be on Banerjee and what stand she takes to woo the refugee community.
Matuas belong to the Scheduled Caste Namasudra community that migrated to India in droves during Partition and after the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh. Getting Indian citizenship has been their long-standing demand, which the BJP promised to implement had it won the Assembly election in West Bengal.
In 26 Assembly seats in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts where Matuas have strong presence, the BJP won 14 in last year’s Assembly polls while the TMC won 12. In 2019, the BJP had led in all 26 Matua dominated seats in these two districts.
“The focus is clearly on panchayat polls and the ways to strengthen the organisation. To do well in elections, the support of the Matua community is important in the southern part of the state. On Thursday, the party supremo is likely to send the message to the rank and file in view of the panchayat polls,” said a senior leader of the party.
The TMC is on a weak footing in Nadia. Of the two Lok Sabha seats, both TMC and BJP have one each. Out of 17 Assembly seats in the district, BJP won 9 while the TMC won 8 in 2021 Assembly polls. But BJP MLA Mukul Roy later returned to the TMC, taking the party’s unofficial tally to 9 MLAs.
On Thursday, Banerjee will hold an administrative review meeting at Ranaghat.