Online Desk: It is learned that during the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh, there is a possibility of visiting the original shrine of Matua community in Orakandi, Gopalganj.

Orakandi is the playground of Harichand-Guruchand Tagore, the founder of the community, to millions of Matuas spread all over the world.

Narendra Modi can go to such a religious place at a time when the elections in West Bengal will start a day later. He is expected to go there later this month to win the hearts of the Matuas.

Shantanu Tagore, president of a section of the Matua Federation and a BJP MP, said, "If the Prime Minister goes to our original seat, it will have an impact on the politics here."

Why the Prime Minister, no minister of any level has ever been there. Orakandi is an emotional place for the Matuas.

Political analysts believe that the vote of the Matua community will be very important in this year`s elections in West Bengal.

On the one hand, as some of the Matuas are frustrated with the non-introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act, on the other hand, the fight is expected to be so fierce that the Matua vote could become a decisive force in many constituencies.

Arundhati Mukherjee, a senior political analyst in Kolkata, said the BJP needed to win the hearts and minds of the Matuas.

In this election, I see that both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have risen and fallen for the votes of small communities or communities. A large section of the Matuas are frustrated that the citizenship law has not been introduced as promised by the BJP.

Arundhati Mukherjee said the Prime Minister`s visit to the shrine was an attempt to win their hearts before the vote.

BJP MP Shantanu Tagore also admitted that there was a sense of frustration among the Matuas over the non-introduction of the citizenship law, but that was cut short by Amit Shah`s recent visit to Thaku Nagar, the main center of the Matuas.

Who is this Matua community?
They are actually members of the Hindu Namah Shudra group.

Harichand Tagore and Guruchand Tagore started this community at Orakandi in Gopalganj. After the independence of India, they moved to India with a large number of their disciples and established their religious center at Thakurnagar in the North 24 Parganas.

But are the Matuars so important in the West Bengal vote that even the Prime Minister has to go on a foreign tour to their original shrine? Why is Matua so important in the election of West Bengal?

Analysts say the politically active community is a decisive force in many constituencies in West Bengal.

Political analyst Biswajit Bhattacharya said the Matua vote in some areas of West Bengal could actually play a big role in determining the loser.

Matua votes in at least 14 assembly constituencies in Bangaon and Basirhat Lok Sabha constituencies decide who will win. Besides, in every assembly constituency of districts like Nadia, North 24 Parganas, there are somewhere between five and ten thousand Matuas.

Biswajit Bhattacharya thinks that since this time`s vote will be very tough, those five-ten thousand votes may become decisive. That is why it is very important for the BJP or the grassroots to ensure the Matua vote.

The
Matua community and their religious leaders have been active in politics since independence. One-time Union President Pramatha Ranjan Tagore was a Member of Parliament for the Congress party. Her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren are also active in politics.

At one time these Matuars almost all voted for the Left Front. Since 2011, they have started voting for the Trinamool Congress.

And before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Matua Mahasang split, with one faction backing the Trinamool Congress, while the other faction chief, Shantunu Tagore, won the BJP ticket and became a Member of Parliament.

Although Shantanu Tagore thinks that Modi`s visit to Orakandi will have a positive impact on his party in the West Bengal vote, Sukriti Ranjan Biswas, acting president of the pro-Trinamool Congress Matua Federation, disagrees.

He said that it was not possible for the Prime Minister to make up for the loss of the BJP by going to the original religion of the Matuas.

It`s too late now. They have repeatedly promised to introduce citizenship laws - even the Prime Minister has come and gone. But now there is no certainty about when the law will be introduced. Will BJP be able to control the damage by going to the original playground of Thakur Harichand Guruchand?

In West Bengal, community-based and minority-based politics have become very prominent in this year`s polls.

Both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP are trying to get the support of the smaller communities, concentrated in each region.

Analysts believe that this is completely new in the politics of West Bengal.