The BJP has decided to publish details of the funds that the Narendra Modi government has provided to Bengal to counter the Trinamool Congress’s narrative that the Centre is denying the state its dues, as the saffron camp gears up to woo rural voters ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

A source in the BJP said the party had prepared a comparative list showing the funds Bengal had received during the Congress-led UPA government vis-à-vis those obtained during the 11 years of the Narendra Modi-led NDA regime.

“The party’s rank and file has been instructed to counter the TMC’s narrative with data on central funds disbursed in rural areas, emphasising that the ruling party’s corruption is responsible for the pause on the release of the cash,” said a senior BJP leader in Bengal.

On June 10, the Bengal unit of the BJP will celebrate 11 years of the Narendra Modi government, with the central theme of the campaign being how the Union government has consistently granted funds for the state’s development.

“We are set to celebrate 11 years of the Narendra Modi government with much fanfare in the state. Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav will attend the celebration in Calcutta on June 10,” said Tushar Kanti Ghosh, a state BJP leader.

Although the BJP had earlier campaigned using data on central funds before the 2024 general election, a section of party leaders believes the campaign did not effectively reach the grassroots level, particularly in rural areas, while the TMC strongly pitched the charge of deprivation against the saffron camp.

The Centre has stopped releasing funds to Bengal under several schemes, including the housing scheme for the poor, since December 2021, alleging irregularities in the use of funds meant for the development of the underprivileged.

Under the leadership of national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress organised a massive protest in Delhi in October 2023, involving around 3,500 MGNREGA job card holders, demanding their due wages. The Mamata Banerjee government paid the wages from its exchequer.

The state government disbursed ₹1.20 lakh each to 12 lakh people who couldn’t build houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana because of the withholding of
central funds.

A TMC source said the party would once again take to the streets ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections to highlight deprivation by the Modi government, believing that Trinamool’s campaign on the alleged central neglect helped it win 29 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal — seven more than in 2019.

BJP leaders claimed that Bengal received ₹5.24 lakh crore in devolution grants during the 11 years of the Modi government, compared to only ₹1.34 lakh crore during the UPA era.

Similarly, the state received ₹3 lakh crore as grant-in-aid during the Modi regime, while it was only ₹75,000 crore during the UPA period. They will also campaign on how the BJP-led NDA government developed metro railway connections and built roads to improve connectivity in Bengal.

Trinamool Congress leaders, however, continue to accuse the Modi government of withholding ₹1.70 lakh crore over the past four years, depriving the state’s poor.

“People of Bengal don’t trust the BJP, as they have seen how the party deprives the state and ignores the poor. If they claim that Bengal has not been deprived, they should first release the due ₹1.70 lakh crore. It is Mamata Banerjee who cleared the dues of MGNREGA workers and paid the entire share for rural housing units from the state’s exchequer,” said TMC Rajya Sabha member Samirul Islam.