While speaking during the discussion on Union Budget in the Parliament on February 10, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha leader and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attacked the BJP for denying its due and harassing Bengali-speaking migrants.
"If the government wants to punish Bengal, we won't bow. If they want to freeze our funds, we will persist. The Prime Minister talked about 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. We showed him what a 'Swanirbhar' Bengal looks like," Banerjee said.
He asserted that Bengal's spine was "never bent by surrender and was not for sale".
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"You want to profile and persecute our youth, we will protect them. Bengal's spine was never bent by surrender, nor softened. It is not for sale. Files can be frozen, funds can be stalled, voices can be suppressed but memories can't be erased," he spoke aloud in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Funds denied to Bengal
Reiterating his claim that funds to Bengal have persistently been denied despite repeated requests and appeals, Banerjee said, "We have been denied employment under MGNREGA, housing under PMAY, road connectivity under Gram Sadak Yojana, and even basic drinking water under Jal Jeevan Mission.
Governance means abandonment, poorest of poors have to fight for 'Roti-Kapda-Makaan', where houses are sanctioned on paper, but erased in practice, as the government boasts about 'minimum government, maximum governance'. Minimum drinking water becomes a bargaining chip in political vendetta."
He said that by doing so, the Centre has withheld the very dignity of Bengal which is a "constitutional promise that every Indian state stands equal before the Union".
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"While the Finance minister proudly declares that India is the fastest-growing economy in the world, on the other hand, Bengal is systematically denied its rightful share after paying 6.75 lakh crore in taxes in the last seven years," Banerjee claimed.
'BJP's defeat no longer a warning'
In his emotive speech, Abhishek Banerjee asserted that in the past three election in Bengal, the BJP has continuously lost. "The BJP has lost in Bengal in 2016, 2021 and 2024. Three elections, three verdicts, three decisive defeats. The fourth is no longer a warning, it is fast approaching," he said.
"The government wants to punish Bengal. You want to freeze our funds, yet we will persist. You have withheld the money for all our schemes, but we have shown what a self-reliant Bengal truly looks like," he further stated.
'Budget reveals a pattern'
The Diamond Harbour MP went on to add that the Budget revealed a pattern. He said, "First, it exposes a triple bonanza for elites and a triple lock on the poor. The top 10 per cent now corner 57 per cent of the nation's income and 65 per cent of its wealth, while the bottom half survives on just 6.4 per cent."
"Second, while foreign cloud giants are handed tax holidays, Indian MSMEs, the backbone of our economy and employment, are left empty-handed. Relief exists on paper, distress exists on the ground," he added.
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Third, he said, "Corporate India receives the red carpet, easier property rules, wider equity access for NRIs and massive infrastructure promises. But the result is not competition; it is concentration. Oligopolies flourish, entry barriers rise, ordinary entrepreneurs are pushed out and cronies grow richer with Union support."
