Kolkata, Jan. 29 -- The Union Budget, scheduled to be presented in Parliament on February 1, may shape the rhetoric of the election campaign in Bengal by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.
Sources within TMC said that the Union Budget may be read not just as an economic statement but as a political one in the poll-bound state. If there are no substantial allocations for Bengal or no "special packages" in the Union Budget, the ruling party will sharpen its attack on the Narendra Modi
government on financial deprivation. Incidentally, the Centre had announced several sops for Bihar as it went to poll in 2025.
Recently, Bengal Finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, while holding a pre-budget meeting with her counterparts in the Central government, Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi raised the state's dues. Bhattacharya urged Sitharaman to clear Rs 1.97 lakh crore dues of Bengal.
The Mamata Banerjee government, which has been financially deprived by the Centre for long and hence forced to compensate the people of the state with its own programmes like "Banglar Bari", "Karmashree". TMC often accuses the BJP-led government at the Centre of political vendetta for stopping funds. The Centre, however, has repeatedly rejected the charge of political vendetta, insisting that fund releases are governed by accountability and compliance standards.
Political analysts in the state have said that it remains to be seen if the Central government prioritizes allocations based on electoral gains or if it continues to ignore the interests of the state even if polls are around. "Bengal remains among the BJP's toughest electoral challenges, and economic policy has become inseparable from political strategy. The timing is crucial for the saffron party in Bengal. Centre laid focus on Bihar's elections by announcing financial assistance," said a political observer in Bengal.
Apart from Bengal, other states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Assam will soon go to polls. BJP is in power in Assam and hence it is expected that Bihar-like announcements may be made for Assam as well. Even the Bengal BJP leaders were keeping their fingers crossed as no significant allocations for Bengal in the Union Budget may jeopardise their polls prospects. Meanwhile, the TMC government, in its interim Budget for 2026-27, may enhance allocations for some of the crucial social schemes which have already changed the socio-economic conditions of the people.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.