TMC’s Rs 1,500 Vs BJP’s Rs 25,000: Bengal’s High-Stakes Freebie Showdown Ahead Of Polls

Last Updated:February 26, 2026, 10:06 IST

BJP is troubled by the strong response to TMC’s new Banglar Yuba Sathi Rs 1,500 monthly allowance for unemployed youth launching in April.

As the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections draw closer, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is rethinking its political strategy in the state and is getting ready for a competitive dole politics, if sources are to be believed. In BJP’s Sankalp Patra or manifesto committee, there has been serious deliberations of whether to promise a massive Rs 25,000 every month to every jobless resident of the state of the age of between 18 and 35 years of age, say sources. This, if made to the manifesto will be one of the steepest doles promised by any political party in recent time. 

But if it makes it to the printed manifesto, BJP sources say, it will come with conditions tied to it. “We don’t want to project it as unemployment allowance. We want to enable the youth. They must learn from among a set of professional training that the new BJP government will impart free of cost. It will be a win-win. They will eventually start earning on their own," said a source in Bengal BJP on the condition of anonymity.

Politically, this is thought of by the BJP which is troubled by the response to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) governments’ newest freebie, Banglar Yuba Sathi allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for unemployed youth, which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said will be implemented from April. About 2 lakh unemployed youths flocked to 294 camps across Bengal on the very first day for registration. The state government has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the scheme, which is the latest in the bouquet of doles. The sheer response to the scheme is said to have forced BJP to think about this competitive dole politics where they are toying with the idea of promising sixteen times more what Mamata Banerjee government is offering, a radical idea in India’s freebie politics. 

Recently a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Surya Kant cautioned states against ‘freebies cultures’. The bench observed, “Most of the states in the country are revenue deficit states and yet they are offering such freebies".

Sources in the BJP reveal, the party is likely to promise 20 lakh new jobs every year if BJP comes to power. For those who haven’t yet entered the job market, BJP is likely to promise a separate Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in North Bengal – where the BJP fared better in 2021 assembly election. The state, however, has an IIT in Kharagpur. 

The Sankalp Patra discussions reflect the BJP’s broader effort to tailor its political messaging to Bengal’s unique socio-economic landscape ahead of a high-stakes electoral contest. In recent weeks, the party has also undertaken grassroots “Sankalp Patra suggestion drives" to gather feedback from citizens across urban and rural areas, positioning the manifesto as a “people’s charter" rather than a top-down document. 

News politics TMC’s Rs 1,500 Vs BJP’s Rs 25,000: Bengal’s High-Stakes Freebie Showdown Ahead Of Polls

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