Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Feb 1: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday harshly criticized the Union Budget 2026-27, calling it “visionless, directionless and full of lies,” and claimed that no funds have been allocated to her state. Speaking to reporters outside Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Banerjee accused the Centre of undermining India’s economy and neglecting key sectors.
“The financial Budget of 2026-27 is totally directionless, visionless, missionless, and actionless. The economy is derailed. It is anti-women, anti-poor, anti-farmers, anti-youth, anti-commoners, anti-SC, anti-ST, anti-OBC. There has been no allocation for education, social security, or fertiliser subsidies. It is nothing but a garbage of lies,” Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister further alleged that West Bengal received no financial support from the Centre, asserting that “They have not given a single paisa to Bengal. Only one tax is there, which is GST. They are taking away our money and claiming to give us funds. It is our money. The Centre has no moral authority to govern the country in this manner.”
Banerjee also accused the government of attempting to dismantle the country’s economic and constitutional framework. “They want to destroy the economic structure, independent agencies, infrastructure, social sector, and federal principles. All is vanishing, replaced by a jugglery of words. The benefits must reach the common people, but this budget fails on every front,” she said.
The chief minister dismissed the Centre’s claims about economic corridors as false. She cited West Bengal’s own initiatives, including the Jangalmahal Jangal Sundari project in Purulia, where Rs 72,000 crore is slated for investment, asserting that the government is already working on these developments independently.
Banerjee left for New Delhi on Sunday afternoon for a series of programmes focused on protesting the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state. She is scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the Election Commission on Monday and is expected to consult opposition leaders to build consensus against the revision exercise.
A detailed reaction to the Union Budget from West Bengal will be presented later by Banerjee’s principal chief adviser and former state finance minister Amit Mitra.