Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday launched a sharp attack on his predecessor Mamata Banerjee and her government, accusing them of neglecting tribal communities and the Jangal Mahal region, even as he announced several development initiatives.
Suvendu was in Jhargram to launch the Centre’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) scheme across Bengal. He announced additional weekly rations for the state’s three PVTG communities — Lodha, Birhor and Toto.
“The previous chief minister had undertaken development work worth only ₹6 crore across the entire western region of Bengal,” the chief minister claimed during his first visit to Kalajhariya, a hamlet inhabited by the Lodha-Sabar community in the Manikpara gram panchayat area of Jhargram.
In the 2026–27 state budget presented by the Suvendu government, ₹1,610.85 crore was allocated to the department of Paschimanchal unnayan affairs, solely for the development of Jangal Mahal, comprising the four western districts West Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura and Jhargram, besides a few blocks in Birbhum.
“We have undertaken several special initiatives for Jhargram district, including an allocation of ₹342 crore for roads, streetlights and community halls,” Suvendu said, before accusing the previous Trinamool government of corruption in implementing housing schemes.
He said the Banglar Bari scheme of the Mamata government had been renamed the Paschim Banga Awas Yojana by his government.
“Under the previous government, the first instalment (of ₹60,000) had been disbursed to 26,600 people. However, many beneficiaries were later found ineligible. Several Trinamool leaders siphoned off money and committed fraud by showing cowsheds as houses. Many genuine beneficiaries were left out. After conducting a survey, our government has given the second instalment of ₹60,000 each to 17,983 beneficiaries,” Suvendu said.
He alleged that the previous Trinamool government failed to adequately implement central schemes. The BJP government, he said, had adopted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), a flagship central scheme launched on October 2, 2024, to ensure comprehensive socio-economic development in tribal-majority villages across the country.
Suvendu's tribal outreach assumes significance as the BJP secured unprecedented support from indigenous voters in the Assembly elections this year. The party won all four Assembly seats in Jhargram and all 16 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates across Bengal.
With the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and several municipal polls scheduled for early 2027, reaching out to tribal voters has emerged as a priority for the Suvendu government.
Suvendu said that in addition to various state and central government schemes, Jhargram had been included in a special focus zone under the Union home ministry and that several development projects would be taken up in the region.
“Union home minister Amit Shah has brought Jhargram district under the purview of his ministry. Under the Comprehensive Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), we have already submitted proposals worth ₹121 crore for Jhargram, covering healthcare, electricity, drinking water and animal husbandry. Amit Shah wants to undertake special development initiatives for this district,” the chief minister said.
Suvendu also announced that his government had decided to establish tribal universities in Bankura and Jhargram soon.
Suvendu also sought to highlight his longstanding association with the people of Jangal Mahal, recalling his political activities against the Left Front government and his campaign against Maoist influence in the region.
“The People’s Committee subjected people to atrocities. During that period, people with surnames like Hansda, Soren, Tudu, Murmu, Majhi and Mahato were branded as Maoists, and many suffered persecution,” he said.
“I fought continuously against these atrocities in Jangal Mahal from 2009 to 2012. On one side were the CPM’s armed cadres, and on the other were the Maoists, who did not believe in the country's democratic system and threatened to prevent people from voting,” he said.
In the 2009 elections, voter turnout in Jangal Mahal had been only 35 per cent because of the Maoists’ boycott call, he said.
"After my rally in 2012, armed Maoists were forced to leave the area," he added.