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West Bengal election 2026 Mamata Banerjee Shree formula turns welfare schemes into votes
Politics
Published on 25 April 2026
The ₹1500 to ₹1700 boost is more than welfare
Since 2011, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has anchored her political strategy on tightly targeted welfare schemes, increasingly challenged by the BJP. Central to this is Lakshmir Bhandar, which now pays women ₹1,500 for general category and ₹1,700 for SC and ST beneficiaries after a revision. The programme has become a major voter outreach tool.
- Banerjee’s governance model blends welfare delivery with electoral strategy
- Lakshmir Bhandar targets women with monthly cash support
- Revised payouts now stand at ₹1,500 and ₹1,700 for specific categories
- The BJP’s growing push is reshaping the competition in the state
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times