Shah likely to be in Bengal on Wed, attend event at Mayapur temple

Kolkata: Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to arrive in Bengal on Wednesday and visit Mayapur. The visit confirmation came following Shah's meeting with state leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari in Delhi.At Mayapur's ISKCON temple, Shah is likely to attend the 152nd birth anniversary of Gaudiya Math founder Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Spiritual leaders and members of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community will be present at the programme, where Shah is likely to touch upon the "relevance of Sanatan values" in contemporary society. During his last visit to the state two weeks ago, Shah attended two party workers' meetings in Barrackpore and Siliguri. He touched upon the apprehension of a large section of Matuas being disenfranchised following SIR. He said that Matuas and Namasudras need not be afraid, and nobody can touch their votes.
The Matua community and Namasudras have a thick population in areas around Mayapur. In campaigns during the past few elections, both PM Narendra Modi and Shah went to Mayapur. BJP tried to solidify its pro-Hindu and anti-infiltrator narrative in the region, which is now home to lakhs of people who were displaced from Bangladesh following religious persecution. Meanwhile, more than 40 affiliate organisations of Sangh Parivar have started to work across the state and run door-to-door campaigns against "illegal Bangladeshi infiltration", accusing TMC of "protecting the infiltrators".Both Modi and Shah, during their rallies, have accused Trinamool of "protecting the infiltrators" for "vote bank politics". Adhikari on Monday highlighted that "false birth certificates" were being issued to fabricate identities of voters. "Such despicable practices are rampant across Bengal, orchestrated to derail the SIR exercise by flooding the system with fake documents," he posted on X. Bengal BJP netas met Shah in New Delhi on Feb 9 and sought his time to visit Kolkata.