BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi unleashed a blistering attack on West Bengal’s budget on Friday, accusing CM Mamata Banerjee of prioritizing appeasement over progress. Speaking to the press in New Delhi, he dissected the allocations, revealing a shocking imbalance that favors madrasas and minority welfare at the expense of core developmental sectors.
Under PM Modi’s visionary leadership, the nation is witnessing unprecedented growth, mirrored in the Union Budget’s ambitious outlays. In sharp juxtaposition, Bengal’s fiscal plan under TMC lavishes 5,713 crore on madrasas and minorities, while industry gets a measly 1,400 crore, IT 217 crore, and science research a pitiful 82 crore. Trivedi decried this as a betrayal of Bengal’s rich scientific heritage—from the Bose legacy to modern innovators.
Regional disparities further compound the issue, with North Bengal receiving only 920 crore and West Bengal 810 crore—figures woefully inadequate for equitable advancement. Trivedi spotlighted dubious provisions funding moulvis and muezzins sans address verification, eroding fiscal accountability.
Drawing on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s warnings about unrecognized madrasas linked to ISI, Trivedi posed a grave query: Is political expediency trumping national security? He lambasted the OBC classification of 78 Muslim castes and the subsequent budgetary bonanza, questioning if Mamata’s ‘love jihad’ rhetoric translates to coerced funding.
The ‘Maati, Manush, Maa’ mantra rings false, Trivedi argued, as the budget’s skew toward one vote-bank shortchanges Bengal’s diverse population. He demanded answers from Mamata: Why this 5,700 crore tilt toward clerics when industries, tech, and research starve? This isn’t governance; it’s a gamble with the state’s future, he concluded, calling for a course correction to align with national development goals.