In Bengal’s Matua heartland, a family feud over a house triggers BJP-TMC spat

In the politically charged landscape of West Bengal, the latest battle between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is over a house.

And not just any other house. The house in question belongs to Binapani Devi, the late matriarch of the Matua community who is popularly known as “Boro Maa (elder mother)”. On Sunday, the TMC shared a video that showed Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, who heads the Matua Mahasangha, and his supporters trying to break the lock of the house in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district. Binapani Devi’s daughter-in-law and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur who lives in the house hit out at Shantanu. The two sides are involved in a legal fight over the control of the Matua Mahasangha.

“I have never seen such things. Being a Union Minister and BJP MP, he along with his family members and supporters broke open the gate with hammers and entered Boro Maa’s room wearing shoes. If the BJP can do this to me, what happens to the common people?” Mamata Bala said. The West Bengal Police has now registered an FIR against Shantanu based on complaints by Mamata Bala.

But the BJP’s Bangaon MP insisted he had a right to the house as Devi’s grandson. “What is my relationship with Boro Maa? I am her grandson. Even I have the right to stay in her house. No law can take away this right from me. I requested (Mamata Bala) multiple times to open the gates. But if someone gives shelter to hooligans in this house, I have to look into it. She has been illegally occupying the entire property and even turning a portion into a TMC party office,” he said

Targeting the BJP, TMC posted a video of the incident on X and wrote, “BJP’s hooliganism at its peak. Shocking visuals are coming from Bangaon where BJP candidate and