Union Budget turns election spotlight on Bengal with freight corridors, industry push
Kolkata (PTI): As West Bengal braces for a fiercely contested Assembly election, the Union Budget presented on Sunday has unmistakably strayed into campaign territory, rolling out high-visibility infrastructure proposals that the ruling TMC dismissed as a "political signalling tool" rather than a credible fiscal commitment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth consecutive budget proposed a new dedicated freight corridor linking Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat, an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor with a major node at Durgapur, and tourism-focused interventions under the Centre's Purvodaya vision, measures that the BJP sees as reinforcing its narrative of development-led politics in eastern India ahead of the polls.
The Dankuni–Surat freight corridor, pitched as a move to promote environmentally sustainable cargo movement and reduce logistics costs, has emerged as the budget’s most politically salient promise for Bengal.
The Centre has argued that shifting freight towards inland water transport and integrated corridors would unlock industrial growth in the state, long portrayed by the BJP as having suffered from policy stagnation under the Trinamool Congress.
Elections to the 294-member Assembly are due in the next three months.
The budget also proposed the creation of tourism destinations across five Purvodaya states and provisions for 4,000 e-buses, announcements that the BJP believes can be leveraged in a state where employment, urban mobility and regional imbalance have become major electoral talking points.
The timing, however, has not gone unnoticed.
In recent years, Union Budgets preceding Assembly elections have often carried pronounced regional emphasis. Bihar, which went to the polls in 2025, saw a succession of big-ticket announcements in the preceding budgets, from airport expansion to irrigation and industrial projects, a pattern that critics said reflected political timing as much as developmental need.
That precedent has shaped expectations in Bengal this year.
While the Centre has stopped short of announcing a special financial package for West Bengal, the infrastructure-heavy focus has been read as an attempt to sketch a pre-election development roadmap, particularly as the BJP intensifies its campaign to dislodge the Mamata Banerjee-led government after over 15 years in power.
The political undertones were amplified by the sharp response from the Trinamool Congress, which framed the budget as further evidence of what it calls discriminatory Centre–state relations.
The TMC accused the Centre of dressing up old decisions as fresh sops. TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of combining "headline announcements with fiscal denial".
"For the last five years, we have been saying this. If the Centre can show, by releasing a white paper, that even one MGNREGA job-card holder in Bengal received money through Direct Benefit Transfer after the BJP's defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, I will quit politics," he said.
He alleged that funds under flagship central schemes such as PM Awas Yojana and Gramin Sadak Yojana have remained blocked since the last polls, arguing that infrastructure announcements in the budget could not mask what he described as sustained financial deprivation.
"In Bengal, they are losing. That is why the BJP is trying to teach the people a lesson. But democracy works the other way round," Banerjee said, asserting that voters would respond at the ballot box.
TMC state vice-president Jaiprakash Majumdar dismissed the proposals as "old policy decisions wrapped in a new packet", questioning whether the announcements would translate into actual spending before the election.
"The budget has focused on Bengal's infrastructure development, which will boost the state's economy," BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, arguing that connectivity and industrial projects would create jobs and attract investment, particularly in regions such as north and western Bengal.
The debate over north Bengal has itself become a prominent campaign theme. A day before the budget, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Trinamool government of systematically under-allocating resources to the region, a charge that the BJP is using to court voters in districts it sees as electorally pivotal.
Political analysts say the budget's Bengal focus must be read in conjunction with the BJP's broader electoral strategy, which includes ambitious vote-share targets and repeated attacks on the state government over corruption, welfare delivery and law and order.
"Budget allocations are not made in a political vacuum," said an economist, noting that when major states approach Assembly elections, fiscal decisions attract heightened political scrutiny.
"In a federal system, the Union budget becomes a powerful instrument — shaping not just economic outcomes but also political narratives around fairness, accountability and responsiveness," he said.
Another political analyst said that election-bound states often receive enhanced Budget attention as part of democratic signalling. "Infrastructure projects and welfare announcements are tangible markers of intent. Voters then assess whether these promises are credible or merely symbolic," he said.
The budget has embedded economic policy, development claims and Centre–state relations firmly into Bengal's poll battle, underscoring that in an election year, it is as much a political document as an economic one.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
