On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched an unusually sharp attack on the state's ruling Trinamool Congress over Bengal's industrialisation. She cited figures and explanations to claim how and why industries were leaving Bengal.
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The Trinamool responded on Friday by saying that the finance minister had misled Parliament with incorrect information. Trinamool's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghosh, has written to Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan raising this allegation. According to sources within the party, Sagarika wrote in her letter that while the Finance Minister spoke of industries leaving Bengal, she did not tell the House that more than one lakh companies had been registered in Bengal over the last 14 years. She also did not mention that the industrial growth of the state stands at 83 per cent, and around 7,500 new companies are starting operations in Bengal every year. Trinamool further claims that Nirmala omitted the fact that till 31 July 2025, altogether 2,50,343 companies have been registered in the state. Citing these omissions, the letter reportedly describes the Finance Minister's remarks as completely misleading and politically motivated.
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The Trinamool continued its protest in Parliament on Friday over the alleged dues of ₹52,000 crore owed to Bengal under the 100-day work scheme. Party MPs raised slogans asking, “For whose benefit has Bengal’s ₹52,000 crore been withheld? The Modi government must answer.” In the Rajya Sabha, the party’s leader in the Upper House, Derek O’Brien, was ready to raise the matter. But Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan prolonged his speech on another subject and left the House once his time was up. According to Trinamool, he did so to avoid facing Derek’s questions. In his written question, Derek had asked why Bengal’s pending dues of ₹52,000 crore under MGNREGA were not being released and why the 100-day work scheme had not resumed in the state even after the Supreme Court’s directions.
