Amit Shah had Bengali vegetarian food served on a plate with a banana leaf on it.
Calcutta:
Union Interior Minister Amit Shah on Friday visited a Matua household in Baguihati, on the northern outskirts of the city, and had lunch there.
Before reaching the residence of Nabin Biswas, a member of the community, Mr. Shah visited a temple of the Matuas in the locality where he spent some time.
Accompanied by BJP National Secretary General Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP National Vice President Mukul Roy and State Party Leader Dilip Ghosh, Mr. Shah had lunch sitting on the floor of Nabin Biswas’ two-story house in the Gauranganagar region.
The veteran BJP chef had served Bengali vegetarian food on a plate with a banana leaf on it.
Party sources said he had a spread of roti, cholar (chana) dal, rice, shukto (a famous Bengali dish of stewed vegetables that is slightly bitter), moong dal, fried brinjal, rounded chutney. with nolen gurer payesh (rice pudding with date palm jaggery).
The six members of the Biswas family had lunch with the Minister of the Interior.
“I am very happy to welcome the union’s Home Secretary to my home. It is an honor for us,” said Biswas, who, along with five other members of his family, underwent COVID-tests. 19 before Amit Shah’s visit as a precaution.
A waterproof security blanket was thrown in the area in preparation for the BJP chief’s visit and all shops were closed before he reached it.
After lunch, Amit Shah interacted with family members and a few other Matua community members living in the area, party sources said.
Shah is on a two-day visit to the state to take stock of the party’s organization ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled for April-May. Friday is the last day of his tour of the state.
The Matua community, which belongs to a farming caste, has a population of over three crore in West Bengal and is considered important in the polarized politics of the state.
The community traces its origins back to ancient East Bengal, now in Bangladesh. They moved after the partition and after the formation of Bangladesh in the districts of West Bengal North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Malda and Coochbehar in an area spread over at least 74 assembly constituencies.
Politically, most of the community is known to be supporters of the Trinamool Congress.
However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP wrested two Matua-dominated constituencies – Bangaon and Ranaghat from the TMC. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill had been the BJP’s trump card by winning both seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited and touched the feet of ‘Baro Ma’, the community’s matriarch in February 2019, when a heated debate raged across the country over the bill.
