New Delhi: The build-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections this year has been intense, with political parties engaged in fierce campaigns to attract voters. The polls will be held on April 23 and 29 to elect all 294 members of the state Legislative Assembly, and the results will be declared on May 4.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is looking to come to power for the fourth consecutive term. In the 2021 elections, the party banked on schemes for common people to trounce the BJP, and it has followed the same tactics this time as well to secure victory in the high-voltage contests.
TMC’s schemes for Bengal
Lakshmir Bhandar
This is undoubtedly the most important and popular scheme that the TMC government has launched in Bengal. Mamata Banerjee implemented it in February 2021 to provide financial assistance to women from the society’s economically weaker sections.
The scheme, launched to empower women and make them financially independent by providing them with a one-time grant to buy essential goods and services, proved to be a masterstroke five years back, and this time, CM Banerjee has raised its limitations from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 for general-category women and from Rs 1,200 to 1,700 for SC/ST women. According to experts, this scheme has played a key role in the TMC securing the support of women voters in the 2021 Assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, CM Banerjee has accused the BJP of attempting to mislead women voters and warned them against sharing bank details, alleging it could lead to financial fraud. While addressing a public rally, she said, “Mothers and sisters, stay alert, the BJP people will come to your homes in the name of the West Bengal government, in the name of the TMC government, and ask for your bank account number, saying they’ll give you money. Don’t give them your account number, even by mistake; they’ll take away the money from your Lakshmi Bhandar. This is their trick.”
Other schemes of the TMC
The TMC has introduced other schemes ahead of the election, with the Banglar Yuba-Sathi launched to provide Rs 1,500 a month to unemployed youth. The party has promised a pucca house for every family belonging to the rural and low-income households, extend piped drinking water to all through its Jal Swapna, and improve the safety of drinking water.
The TMC, in its election manifesto, has promised Rs 30,000 crore agriculture budget to support farmers and the rural economy. It has promised yearly Duare Chikitsa camps in every block and town to provide people with doorstep healthcare, and has also pledged to improve the infrastructure of all government schools under Banglar Shikshayatan.
How has the BJP responded?
The BJP is reportedly yet to release its ‘Sankalp Patra’ for the Bengal elections. However, it has signalled tio bring some schemes if it wins, including monthly aid for women which would reportedly be of Rs 3,000 per month for women in Bengal to counter TMC’s Lakshmir Bhandar.
Notably, the BJP leaders in Bengal have attacked TMC’s ‘dole/freebie’ politics over the years. It has blamed the TMC of dishing out welfare cash transfers to draw voters to its side instead of creating enough jobs or improving the economy of the state. However, the BJP has promised its share of welfare schemes on face value. The president of the Bengal BJP, Samik Bhattacharya has reportedly promised Rs 3,000 per month for women under Annapurna Yojana, and also a Rs 5,700 crore package for women.