Mamata Banerjee faces BJP's ire for mispronouncing names of Matua spiritual leaders

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced the ire of BJP, especially the leader of opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari for mispronouncing the names of two iconic spiritual leaders of Matua community at a recent public meeting.

The meeting was held on January 31 at Gazole in Malda district, where people from the Matua community constitute a substantial proportion of the voters.

The chief minister while detailing 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 had issued a Twitter message slamming the mispronunciation of the names of the two spiritual leaders from the Matua community. "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 has proved she had never respected the people from the community from her heart. I strongly condemn this," the leader of the opposition said in the 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 are totally tight-lipped over the incident so far.