Left attempts a split among Motuas

“I have not been invited to the event. But it’s okay. A degree college was much needed in this area,and the fact that one is finally coming up,is making all of us happy,” said Manjulkrishna.

With its four million strong vote bank,the Motuas are being wooed by both the ruling CPM and its archrival Trinamool for quite some time now. The inauguration of the degree college named after Harichand and Guruchand Thakur,the founders of the Matua Mahasangha,can be read as one more attempt by the Left in the same direction.

Officialy,the state government says that the inauguration of the college should not be linked to the impending Assembly elections. “Gaighata is a socio-economically backward area and the establishment of a degree college was long overdue. The idea emerged over a long period of time,and not one fine morning before the elections,” said Satish Chandra Tiwari,Principal Secretary (Higher Education Department). The Backward Community Welfare Department will provide funds for the establishment of the building of the college.

Initially,the Motuas were close to the Left,but as the Left Front government grappled with the Nandigram and Singur fiascos,they started developing ties with the Trinamool. By December 2009,the tie between the community leaders and Trinamool grew so strong that they inducted Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee as the life member of the Mahasangha. The tussle over the Motua vote bank,became very evident in a rally of the mahasangh at the Metro channel in December 2010. The rally was witness to a rare spectacle with arch rivals — CPM and Trinamool — sharing the dais together with Boroma.