West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Kolkata airport before departing for Delhi to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. | Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri Union Budget 2026-27 presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday (February 1, 2026) fell short of expectations of the people of poll bound West Bengal. The Finance Minister announced that one of the “High-Speed Rail corridors” between cities as “growth connectors” will connect Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Siliguri in West Bengal. The Budget also announced a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in the East, to Surat in the West. Also Read | A budget for difficult times Ms. Sitharaman in her Budget speech also emphasised on “Purvodaya” and proposed the development of an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor with a well-connected node at Durgapur in South Bengal. The initiative has proposed creation of five tourism destinations in the five Purvodaya States, and the provision of 4,000 e-buses. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Budget had nothing to offer to people of the State. …