A new airport, a National Institute of Food Technology, a Makhana Board, a canal project, an IIT upgrade — these were among the sops that last year’s Union budget had showered on a poll-bound Bihar.

In contrast, this year’s budget has held out mere crumbs for Bengal, allowing Trinamool to cry “step-motherly treatment” just months ahead of the Assembly elections, and suggest the BJP has given up hope of conquering a state it apparently considers its final frontier.

The few references Bengal received in the budget came largely in connection with larger projects, national or regional: A dedicated freight corridor linking Dankuni to Surat in Gujarat, an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor with a major node in Durgapur, and a Varanasi-Siliguri high-speed rail corridor — one of seven such projects countrywide.

There was a general mention of tourism-focused interventions under the Centre’s Purvodaya vision.

Moments after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman was done in Parliament, chief minister Mamata Banerjee came out guns blazing against what she called a “Humpty Dumpty budget”.

“It is directionless, visionless, missionless and actionless,” she said at Calcutta airport before leaving for Delhi.

“The economy is derailed. The budget is anti-poor, anti-youth, anti-women and anti-farmer. The budget is anti-SC, ST and OBC.”

Mamata added: “To Bengal, they have given nothing.... They have not given a single penny to Bengal. They have resorted to a jugglery of words. You have to extend the advantages to common people so that they can enjoy the facilities.”

As for the freight corridor from Dankuni, she said she had proposed it all the way back in 2009, in a railway budget she had presented as UPA-II railway minister.

“While they have mentioned three economic corridors, we (the state government) have already announced six. (One of them) will connect Dankuni, Bardhaman, Bankura, Durgapur and Purulia,” she said.

“(Another) will connect Kalyani, Bardhaman, Birbhum, Malda, Siliguri and Cooch Behar. The state will be covered by six economic corridors. We have started working on the projects….

“The (state government’s) Jungle Sundari project in Purulia will see an investment of ₹72,000 crore for this economic corridor. Bengal has become the hub of various industries, including cement, coal and leather. Flipkart and Amazon are also doing business in and around Dankuni, Kalyani and other places.”

Mamata accused the Centre of “taking away our money through GST” but “not releasing our developmental funds worth more than ₹2 lakh crore”.

Speaking more generally, she said: “Funds and subsidies for education have declined. There is a decline in subsidies for social security and fertilisers…. The budget reflects incompetence and is a garbage of lies... a Humpty Dumpty budget.”

Mamata’s nephew and heir apparent, Abhishek Banerjee, said: “In her 5,100-second speech, the Union finance minister did not mention Bengal even once. There is nothing for Bengal in the 85-minute budget speech.

“The 10 crore people of Bengal are being branded Bangladeshis by the Prime Minister and the Union home minister. For the people of Bengal — workers, farmers, fishermen and the youth — there is nothing in this budget. There is no road map for young people.”

Abhishek, who attended Sitharaman’s budget speech in Parliament, added: “They know they will lose (in) Bengal… which is why they deliberately chose not to allocate funds to the state.... The people of Bengal will give them a fitting response.”

The state Congress regretted the BJP’s lack of “love” for Bengal.

“They simply come asking for votes, without any love for the people.... Such a completely apathetic approach to Bengal and its people from the BJP… which was adequately reflected in this budget,” AICC member Soumya Aich Roy said.

“Zilch, cipher, nil for Bengal and its people. The people will exact revenge in the election....”

CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the budget had again
underlined the Narendra Modi government’s lack of commitment to the uplift of the working classes and the socio-economically oppressed.

A beleaguered state BJP feebly attempted a public defence. In private, multiple insiders said the budget had deepened the party’s worries ahead of the polls.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed the budget had given hope to the people of Bengal.

“Huge investment has been planned in infrastructure development to bring about a surge in industrialisation.... This people-oriented budget has been
prepared keeping in mind the people from every level of society — increasing the income of farmers, empowering women, employment of the youth, and paving the way for development for all,” he said on X.

“As long as the corrupt Trinamool Congress government remains in power, the people of Bengal will not get the real benefits of this public welfare budget of the Centre,” he added, urging voters to bring the BJP to power.