State Budget delivered on promises made by Bengal govt: Abhishek
Kolkata: Stating that Bengal’s Budget, tabled on Wednesday, delivered on promises made by the state government, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday, said that his party will go solo in the 2026 Assembly elections.
The party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday during her meeting with the MLAs hinted that Trinamool would go it alone in the 2026 Assembly elections in the state, dismissing any possibility of forging a coalition with the Congress or any other party.
Speaking to the media at Satgachia, Abhishek clarified that his party has been with the India Bloc for larger interest but if Congress does not explore and engage in any seat-sharing formula, his party will fight elections alone.
“Didi (Mamata Banerjee) has already said it and we have always fought alone. There is still a year left for 2026, but we fought alone in 2021, 2024, 2019, 2016, and 2014. We have delivered an outstanding performance fighting alone, and we will continue to do so,” he said. On Delhi poll results, Abhishek said: “This is an internal matter (of AAP and Congress). Whether one contests alone or in an alliance, it depends on public support. In Bengal, we have categorically stated in the past that we are with the INDIA bloc for the larger interest. However, if Congress does not wish to explore any way forward or engage in any seat-sharing formula, we will go ahead and fight elections on our own might and terms. We did so before and won.”
He also stated that the BJP has a talent for misleading people. “They were successful in establishing the narrative that Arvind Kejriwal did nothing in the past 5 years. AAP was unsuccessful to some extent because they were not wholly able to counter the BJP’s fake narratives,” Abhishek said adding “I don’t think an alliance would have made a tremendous difference but yes, a few seats might have been affected. The people of Delhi felt that they needed a change. AAP attempted to reach out to the masses but was unsuccessful.”
Calling the Union Budget “a deception”, Abhishek heaped praises on the Bengal Budget. “The state Budget had delivered on the promises made by the state government during the Lok Sabha polls. From Ghatal Master Plan to Banglar Bari to Pathashree. Bengal is the only state where the unemployment rate has decreased by 20 per cent in the past 11 years. During my Budget speech in the Lok Sabha, I spoke about the unemployment rate in India and where it has reached in the past 11 years under the BJP government led by Narendra Modi. Ask the BJP to produce a white paper on this. Documents and facts don’t lie,” Abhishek said. “The Panchayat department has received Rs 44,000 crore. We had talked about working on the Ghatal Master Plan during the 2024 polls. I too had talked about it when I campaigned in Ghatal during elections. The Central government was supposed to provide Rs 1,200 crore for the Ghatal Master Plan. Our representatives held multiple meetings with the Centre, but to no avail,” Banerjee said.
“Consequently, we had said that if they do not allocate the funds, we will proceed with our own resources. Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the Ghatal Master Plan in the state Budget..” he added.
Meanwhile, a letter addressed to META, the parent company of Facebook, the Diamond Harbour MP through his lawyer Sanjay Basu, has alleged unauthorised access to his account and the alteration of his personal information.
In the communication on Wednesday, Banerjee demanded that META take immediate action to secure his account and restore his personal details. META on Thursday restored the Facebook account of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee hours after his counsel sent a legal notice.
