Calcutta, July 3: Where Mamata couldn’t offer a train, she promised surveys. But Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh had to find a place in Mamata Banerjee’s railway budget.

The surveys to link Singur to Nandigram or take the railway to Salboni-Jhargram through Lalgarh and Belpahari may take years. But Mamata has done what she wanted to do with these places in her budget — link them to her political roadmap.

All these three places have acquired the status of political icons in Bengal. Between them, they capture the decline of the Left and the rise of a new Mamata.

Connecting Lalgarh to the railway network is, in Mamata’s political calculations, making a new connection to the Bengal tribal network.

The tribals in the state have traditionally been with the Left and, in a small measure, with the Congress. The lack of presence in the tribal belt is one of the weaknesses of the Trinamul Congress.

“There is no denying that we had suffered a humiliating drubbing in the 2006 Assembly elections because of our lack of presence among the tribals and the poor. But we have begun a turnaround since the 2008 panchayat elections and the trend has remained intact in this year’s Lok Sabha elections and in the just-concluded municipality elections.

“We believe Mamatadi’s reaffirmation of her faith in Maa-mati-manush in the railway budget will help us consolidate our base more among them,” said Trinamul state president and MLA Subrata Bakshi.

“Her promises to link Singur to Nandigram and take the railway line to Lalgarh will yield us rich political dividends during the 2011 Assembly elections,” he said.

Mamata’s other acts of munificence for Bengal have parallels in railway budgets presented by erstwhile railway ministers.

Whether it was C.K. Jaffer Sharief in another time or Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad in recent years, all railway ministers have tried to benefit their home states.

But Mamata is nothing if not totally driven by political instinct. So, gifts for Bengal — a wagon factory at Kanchra-para, a power plant at Adra in Purulia and concessions to madarsa students — are part of her political thanksgiving to the people of Bengal.

Dubbing the railway budget “pro-people and pro-Bengal”, Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee said: “Mamata’s concern about the people living in Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh in her railway budget is a step in the right direction to further isolate the ruling CPM before the Assembly polls.”

Trinamul leaders said the proposed wagon factory and the power plant would generate employment opportunities for youths from backward ar-eas from North 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Nadia and tribal-dominated districts like Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.

Besides, her decision to provide railway concessions to madarsa students will further help Trinamul consolidate its Muslim vote bank.

“Muslims have sided with us since the panchayat electi-ons. They also voted for us in the Lok Sabha and in the municipal elections. Didi’s sops to madarsa students is another step towards reaching the Muslims,” said a key Trinamul functionary.