'Insulted Entire Community': BJP Tears Into Mamata Banerjee For Mispronouncing Names Of Matua Leaders

New Delhi: The leader of the opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for mispronouncing the names of two iconic spiritual leaders of the Matua community. He said, the Chief Minister has insulted the entire Matua community by mispronouncing the names of the most respected spiritual leaders, Harichanda Thakur and Guruchand Thakur.

Mamata Banerjee was speaking at a public meeting held on January 31 at Gazole in Malda district, where people from the Matua community constitute a substantial proportion of the voters, as reported by the news agency PTI.

Banerjee while giving details on the development works undertaken by her government for the welfare of the community referred to the names of two iconic Matua spiritual leaders, Harichanda Thakur, and Guruchand Thakur. However, she mispronounced the names as "Roghuchand" and "Goruchand".

Matuas are refugees from Bangladesh hailing from the Scheduled Caste background and contribute a substantial proportion of the voters in parts of North 24 Parganas, Nadia, and Malda districts.

Adhikari slammed the mispronunciation of the names of the two spiritual leaders from the Matua community in a Twitter message. "The chief minister has insulted the entire Matua community by mispronouncing the names of the most respected spiritual leaders, Harichanda Thakur and Guruchand Thakur.

"Throughout her life, she has considered the Matua community as a vote bank. Her ignorance proved she had never respected the people from the community from her heart. I strongly condemn this," the leader of the opposition said in a Twitter message.

In the message, he has attached a video of that public meeting where the chief minister was heard mispronouncing the names of the two spiritual leaders. Trinamool Congress is totally tight-lipped over the incident so far.