Last Updated on November 11, 2025 11:07 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Aafreen Hussain / Kolkata
When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stood in North Bengal accusing the Centre of “snatching away our rightful funds,” the Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari grabbed the mic with an equal punchline – “This money was meant for the people, but it was washed away into Banglar Bari.”
The real question is: what’s truly drowning here money, justice, or truth? Mamata Banerjee claims that the Centre has withheld over ₹20,000 crore of West Bengal’s GST and development funds. “Our rightful share is being denied,” she says, “while other states are being rewarded.”
On the other side, Suvendu Adhikari alleges something equally serious – that ₹1,347 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) meant for flood relief was diverted to the Banglar Bari housing scheme.
So, questions arise If the Centre is truly holding back funds, why doesn’t the state publish a transparent account of where and how the money has been used?
And if Adhikari’s charges are true, why does he have only allegations and no hard evidence? Is all this simply “fund politics” ahead of the 2026 elections?
The state says the Centre is taking “political revenge” on Bengal. The Centre’s supporters counter that the state is hiding “corruption behind the veil of welfare.”
And the people? They’re still searching for their homes in floodwater, while politicians row their boats in the current of diverted funds.
The Banglar Bari scheme claims to have built over 1 crore houses for the poor, and Mamata promises another 16 lakh by December. But the Opposition insists that these houses are not built of bricks – they’re built of votes.
So, is West Bengal today a land where promises are stronger than cement, and allegations taller than walls? As Adhikari puts it: “This fund was meant for flood victims, but it’s being spent on election victims.” Irony, numbers, and politics all tangled in the same current. Politics of Money: When Flood Relief Turns Into Vote Relief
As Mamata Banerjee blames the Centre for withholding Bengal’s rightful funds and Suvendu Adhikari accuses her government of misusing disaster aid, a bigger question emerges is Bengal’s development sinking under the weight of political rivalry and financial distrust?
And at the end, one bitter truth remains: When floods come, water flows. But when politics floods, morality drowns. So, is Bengal now facing not a natural calamity – but a political one born of fund manipulation?