Kolkata, March 2 Panic, anger, and suspicion are spreading through the Matua heartland in West Bengal, putting the BJP on the defensive in its stronghold, even as the TMC senses a political opportunity, following large-scale deletions under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Election Commission's first intensive revision since 2002 has reopened old wounds in the border districts. For the Matuas, a Scheduled Caste Hindu refugee community with significant influence in over 50 assembly seats across North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts in south Bengal and parts of north Bengal, this exercise has revived anxieties over identity, documentation, and belonging.
Under the SIR framework, voters whose names did not appear in the 2002 rolls were required to provide proof of eligibility. For lakhs who migrated from Bangladesh over decades, often without formal documentation, this scrutiny has led to deletions, leaving many disenfranchised.
The figures highlight the scale of the problem. In the second phase, Dabgram-Fulbari saw 16,491 deletions, Bagda 15,303, and Kalyani 9,037, all predominantly Matua constituencies.
Bagda had already recorded 24,927 deletions in the first phase, Gaighata 16,718, Bangaon-Uttar 26,183, and Bangaon-Dakshin 18,562. With these fresh deletions, the total number of deletions stands at 40,230 in Bagda, 34,109 in Bangaon-Uttar, 25,464 in Bangaon-Dakshin, 23,488 in Gaighata, and around 15,000 in Swarupnagar. In most constituencies, thousands have been placed in an "under adjudication" category.
Across Nadia and North 24 Parganas, several Matua-dominated constituencies have reported deletions ranging from 25,000 to 40,000 since the process began, even as thousands remain under adjudication – a parallel pool that could further reshape the political landscape.
Overall, 63.66 lakh names, or about 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since November, reducing West Bengal's voter base from 7.66 crore to 7.04 crore. Another 60 lakh voters remain "under adjudication".
While the EC maintains that the exercise is aimed at removing duplicate, deceased, and ineligible voters, in the Matua belt, it has become a major political issue.
In Thakurnagar, the Matua sect's spiritual headquarters, residents possess Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and voter cards, but many fear that these documents may become invalid as many obtained them illegally, and their names have now been deleted from the rolls.
The Matuas, followers of a 19th-century reformist movement that challenged caste hierarchies, began migrating from East Pakistan in the 1950s. Today, they form nearly 17 per cent of West Bengal's population and constitute the state's largest Scheduled Caste group.
Recognised as a crucial refugee vote bank, they were once courted by the Left, later by the TMC, and since 2019, have largely aligned with the BJP after the party prioritized the citizenship issue.
Of the roughly 50 assembly seats where Matuas play a decisive role, a majority went to the BJP in 2021. Party insiders say that Matua and other refugee-dominated areas alone accounted for over half of the BJP's 77 seats in the last assembly elections. The support base largely remained intact in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Now, internal mapping by community leaders suggests that in several areas under Bongaon and Ranaghat assembly segments, nearly 30-40 per cent of voters have been affected due to failing to link their names to the 2002 rolls. In parts of Krishnanagar and Ranaghat, where Matua voters form nearly 60 per cent of the population, similar concerns are emerging.
Mahitosh Baidya, general secretary of the Matua Mahasangha, described the mood as one of "confusion and anxiety".
"More than 50 per cent of the Matuas have been removed from the voter list. We really don't know what to do next," he said.
He stated that the citizenship certificates issued so far in Matua-dominated areas are "insufficient" compared to an estimated one crore eligible applicants.
Union minister and Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur, the BJP's Matua face, attempted to reassure the community.
"There is no need to worry if the names of refugee Matuas are deleted. They will get Indian citizenship under the CAA. Those who entered India till December 31, 2024, have nothing to worry about," he said.
A local BJP leader in Bangaon admitted that there is "visible erosion" among sections of voters who had been ardent supporters since 2019.
"People are asking why their names were deleted. We are telling them that this is a roll purification process, and that the CAA will protect genuine refugees," he said.
TMC MP Mamatabala Thakur, who leads a rival faction within the Thakur family, which is the spiritual head of the Matua community, alleged that those who emigrated after 2002 and lack documents have been disproportionately affected.
"The names of Matuas have been deleted because those who came after 2002 lack documents and will lose their voting rights. We had warned from the beginning that the Matuas would suffer the most due to the BJP's citizenship jumla," she said.
For the BJP, these deletions represent a high-stakes gamble: to double down on the CAA plank and promise eventual restoration, or to risk alienating the refugee constituency that powered its post-2019 surge.
For the TMC, this situation offers a chance to reclaim refugee votes, but it also puts the burden of managing anxiety in border districts where identity politics runs deep.
With barely two months to go before the assembly elections, the Matua belt has become the election's sharpest faultline, where every deletion serves as a political trigger.