West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee | Photo Credit: ANI
Alleging that West Bengal has been deprived in the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the State’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on July 23 dubbed it as a “politically biased Budget”.
“It is an anti-poor, anti-people, and politically biased Budget,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists in her chamber in the State Assembly. The Trinamool Congress chairperson accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of “being envious of West Bengal” and said that the State received a “big zero” in the budgetary allocations.
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“This budget is totally directionless, anti-people, with no vision, only a political mission in mind. I don’t see any light. It is dark, dark, and dark,” Ms. Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister raised questions on Centre’s proposal to provide flood assistance to neighbouring Sikkim. In her Budget speech, Ms. Sitharaman referred to devastating flash floods and landslides that wreaked havoc in Sikkim and added that the government will provide assistance to the State. ”If Sikkim gets and West Bengal is deprived. This is not good,” the Chief Minister said. She said that people of Darjeeling and Kalimpong should bear this in mind that while seeking votes the BJP promises everything but does not deliver. The BJP had won most of seats in north Bengal including Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
In her Budget speech the Finance Minister referred to the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor, and said the government will support development of an industrial node at Gaya. The Chief Minister said she had made provisions for the Dankuni Amritsar corridor long ago in 2009 and what the Finance Minister was promising was old wine in a new bottle.
Along with the Chief Minister, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee reacted to the Budget saying that instead of tackling urgent issues like unemployment, rising prices and growing inflation, the “BJP has crafted a budget to bribe its coalition partners and buy time before the government implodes”. Mr. Banerjee also highlighted that Bengal has been constantly deprived by this BJP government at the Centre. “Has there been a positive outcome of 12 BJP MPs who are elected from Bengal? No! The net result is zero because Bengal has been constantly tortured & deprived. What Suvendu Adhikari said a few days ago Jo humare saath, hum unke saath [We are with those who are with us] has been proved today,” he said.
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The Finance Minister in the Budget also referred to West Bengal while stressing on a plan, Purvodaya, “for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh”.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose spoke on similar lines and said they staged a walkout from the Upper House of Parliament in protest.
“This is a failed budget. It is to bribe two of the alliance partners - Bihar and Andhra Pradesh - not a Union Budget. This budget is bribing coalition partners before this government implodes,” she told reporters outside Parliament.
“We in the TMC have protested against this anti-Bengal budget. The TMC walked out of the Rajya Sabha. This is anti-federal. You cannot sacrifice the federal spirit at the alter of politics. It is ethically repugnant, constitutionally immoral and economically ruinous,” Ghose said.
Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale alleged that there is an “open and shameless” discrimination against West Bengal in the budget.
“Open and shameless discrimination yet again in this Union Budget. Union Govt excludes only Bengal from flood relief and reconstruction funds,” he said in a post on X.
“Giving funds to other states while intentionally ignoring and singling out the people of Bengal is yet another revenge for BJP’s pathetic performance in elections,” Gokhale added.
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“West Bengal contributes significant revenues to the Union but faces pathetic targeting and exclusion yet again in the Union Budget,” the TMC leader said.
Another Rajya Sabha MP of the party, Sushmita Dev, said central funds amounting to Rs 1.6 lakh crore are due to West Bengal and questioned how the budget exercise was being carried out without the census being held.
“You are calling the budget historic, but he is a king who does not know what the population is. There has been no census since 2011. If you do not know the exact numbers, how are you going to make the budget?” she asked.
(with PTI inputs)
