West Bengal Police has registered an FIR against Union Minister Shantanu Thakur based on complaints by his aunt and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur, who accused the minister of forcibly trying to take control of a house where community matriarch Binapani Devi, affectionately known as ’Boroma’, lived until her death five years ago.
The Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways termed the allegations as baseless and said, ”Mamatbala Thakur herself had forcibly occupied the house despite my being the legal heir.” ”An FIR has been registered against Shantanu Thakur based on a complaint by Mamata Bala Thakur under various sections, including forcible trespassing. We have started a probe into the case,” a senior police officer of Gaighata told PTI.
The Matua-majority Thakurnagar area in West Bengal witnessed dramatic scenes on Sunday night as supporters of both leaders came face to face over the control of a house where Binapani Devi lived.
According to the TMC, the incident happened when Shantanu Thakur, along with his supporters, allegedly tried to take control of the house, where Mamata Bala presently resides.
Shantanu is the grandson of Binapani Devi, while Mamata Bala Thakur is her daughter-in-law. Thakurnagar is in North 24 Parganas district.
”BJP’s hooliganism is at its peak. Shocking visuals are coming from Bongaon where BJP candidate & their leader @Shantanu_bjp, along with his goons carrying sharp objects & arms, are planning a violent attack on our Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Thakur’s residence,” the TMC posted on X along with a video of the incident.
In the purported video, Shantanu and his supporters were seen breaking the gates of the house.
Shantanu told reporters that despite him being one of the legal claimants of the property, ”Mamata Bala Thakur has been illegally occupying the entire house and even turning a portion of it into a TMC party office.” Talking to reporters on Monday morning, while sitting inside Boroma’s room, he claimed that ”the room is for the devotees of the Matua community. But Mamata Bala Thakur has destroyed the sanctity of the house for her political interests.” The TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP dismissed the allegations and alleged that goons accompanying Shantanu Thakur tried to attack her with sharp objects.
”My life was in danger. It is shameful that despite the BJP talking about Nari Shakti, they are attacking a widow. I have lodged a complaint at Gaighata police station as Shantanu Thakur and his associates tried to break into my residence. They forcibly entered my residence. I have been informed that an FIR has been registered,” she said.
The Thakurbari family has been a divided house since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after Shantanu Thakur, son of former TMC Minister Manjul Krishna Thakur, joined the BJP.
Mamata Bala Thakur is wife of former TMC MP from Bongaon Kapil Krishna Thakur, the elder son of Binapani Devi.
Since morning, central forces and state police have been deployed in the area.
Supporters of both groups gathered outside Thakurbari as slogans and counter-slogans echoed in the air and kept the area’s political pot boiling ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Shantanu had defeated his nearest TMC rival, Mamata Bala Thakur, who is also an influential leader of the Matua community, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where the CAA and NRC issues were the main poll planks.
Matuas, originally from East Pakistan, are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh following religious persecution.
Since the ’90s, political parties have courted the support of the Matuas, whose substantial population and tendency to vote cohesively render them a valuable voting bloc.
According to the CAA, whose rules were notified on March 13, the government will grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Matuas are expected to benefit the most from the implementation of CAA.
Comments
0 comment