Thakurnagar (West Bengal): Rs 20 for assistance to fill out forms, Rs 800 to submit them – at a Citizenship Amendment Act 'camp' set up by the Bharatiya Janata Party in North 24 Parganas in Bengal, this rate card comes with a guarantee of "no rejections." 

For the last two months, the Matua Mahasangha office in Thakurnagar near the India-Bangladesh border has been a hub of activity. BJP leaders including Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother Subrata have established operations at the camp to distribute so-called ‘Matua identity cards’ and ‘Hindu identity cards.’ The BJP MLA from Haringhata, Ashim Sarkar, runs a similar, independent camp in Nadia.

Targeting primarily the Matua community – the large group of Dalit Hindus who migrated from Bangladesh decades ago and have long struggled with citizenship and identity issues – BJP has been ramping up efforts to mobilise potential CAA beneficiaries. Earlier this month, the party announced plans to set up more than 700 CAA assistance camps across the state. Many of these have come up in pockets with a large population of Matuas such as Thakurnagar, Gaighata, Habra, and Palpara. These are areas where the community’s votes hold sway.

BJP Bengal state committee spokesperson Debjit Sarkar told The Wire, “BJP itself is directly running more than 100 CAA assistance camps in different parts of the state. In addition to that, several like-minded organisations have set up many more camps. According to the latest figures coming to us from across the state, on average, more than 500 people are visiting our camps every day to register their names under the CAA.”

'Hindu card' camps that The Wire has reported on have now expanded to include assistance with CAA form submissions.

At the CAA desk of the camp in Thakurnagar, The Wire saw young BJP members or supporters helping applicants compile the 12-point documentation list required to upload the CAA Form 6B. 

A young man said he had received training to do this and guaranteed "success".

“We’ve made a checklist of required documents and received training,” said Arghadeep Mondal. When The Wire asked him why people would come to this camp instead of uploading their own documents with a phone, Mondal offered an interesting response. “People who submit forms elsewhere see them rejected. With us, none get rejected – that’s why they’re coming from distant places,” he said.

Mondal and others are charging Rs 20 to fill up the forms. 

Then comes the submission of the application. This service costs Rs 800 per person. In exchange for this fee and the documents, BJP workers under the Matua Mahasangha banner provide something that they call a “Hindutva certificate” and upload the application. A Matua Mahasangha membership card is also given – many there called it a “Hindu identity card” – with the CAA application acceptance notice appended alongside. 

A printed notice put up on the premises lists the paperwork necessary for CAA applications: proof of residence in Bangladesh before December 31, 2014, Aadhaar, photos, “Hindu certificates”, parental details, character certificate and multiple affidavits. 

This arrangement is no source of joy for ordinary Matuas. “Politics and money-making are being done in the name of our guru,” said Suresh Das who had come from Habra, 16 kilometres away.

The timing  would suggest that the BJP  is eager to link the Election Commission's 'special intensive revision' of electoral rolls with the rollout of the Citizenship Amendment Act in Bengal. These efforts have stirred political debate and administrative concern, particularly in border districts like North 24 Parganas and Nadia.

With the 2026 assembly elections less than six months away , the BJP is striving to rebuild its support base. This linkage is  transactional and taps into the anxiety surrounding the SIR process. The objective  appears to be todraw the Matua community back to the BJP and recover the political ground lost in the recent polls.

Standing in line, Swapan Biswas from Gaighata knows this all too well, “I’m hearing that if we don’t listen to them, they’ll push us into Bangladesh. Every time elections come, this fear starts. Elections themselves feel like a terror!”

Despite the strategic design of this initiative, the on-ground response has been far from overwhelming. The first two days of the CAA camps registered a low turnout that has not met the expectations of the organising BJP leaders. 

There is great reluctance on the part of Matuas, born and bred in India, to say that they have come from  Bangladesh. 

“Uploading of the CAA Form 6B is underway. Over the past two days the crowd has risen somewhat, but we hope it will increase further in a few days,” said Rakesh Mondal, who is in charge of the CAA form upload centre.

Debasish Mondal, has come with his family from Maslandapur, around 30 km from Thakurnagar, to get his ‘Matua Card’. However, he is sceptical about the benefits of the CAA. “Why should we give a pre-emptive undertaking that we’re Bangladeshis?” Mondal asked. “I’m 27 years old and was born at Gobardanga Government Hospital. But my birth certificate is lost. The whole family is anxious, it's true, but why should we pay Rs 800 per person for this?”

When asked, Gaighata BJP MLA Subrata Thakur – the Union minister Shantanu’s brother – confirmed that the amount was indeed being taken. “Yes, Rs 800 is being charged, because the workers handling the affidavit process need to be paid for their work,” Subrata said. 

For decades, Thakurnagar has remained the epicentre of the citizenship movement for Matuas, the lower-caste Bengali refugees,  who migrated to India to escape religious persecution. BJP’s electoral success among the Matua community in 2019 was largely built on the CAA promise, and subsequent political activity in Thakurnagar has been directly tied to maintaining that narrative.

Now the thin crowds and skeptical voices tell a deeper story.

The promise of citizenship is colliding with the realities of mistrust and fatigue. 

As the 2026 polls near, the BJP’s “refugee citizenship” narrative may have to confront its most challenging test yet – the erosion of faith in the very constituencies it was meant to secure.

Translated from the Bengali original and with inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.

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