While industry and job creation remained the focus ¿ to put in sharper focus the Left Front government’s failure in this direction ¿ goodies particularly rained on North Bengal and the areas where Trinamool Congress is not on a strong wicket.

A large portion of constituencies which will go to polls next year have been covered in the populist budget. So have parts of South Bengal, which bore the brunt of CPM-Trinamool political violence.

A host of projects ¿ from training centres, wagon manufacturing factories, rail axle factory and drinking water bottling plants — mark a shift in strategy. Last year, she had just announced new trains and platforms, stations and railway reservation counters. Most of these being joint ventures with PPP model, they project an industry-friendly image.

Partho Chatterjee, TMC MLA and leader of the opposition in the Assembly, said: “Our leader is never anti-industry. She is for a balance between industry and agriculture. This budget proves that she is successful in bring in proper industrialisation in Bengal which will generate thousands of jobs.”

Regarding Singur, Banerjee said if land is available, railways will set up a coach factory there, too. But the state government should hand over the land after returning 400 acres to the farmers.

“For a long time after her Singur and Nandigram agitations, she was tagged with anti-industry image,” said a senior Trinamool leader. “But now this misconception is bound to go.”

According to party sources, North Bengal is crucial in the upcoming elections since Trinamool is comparatively weak than ally Congress.

Gautam Deb, senior Trinamool leader in North Bengal, said: “Earlier, she had announced a bunch of trains from North Bengal and promised to develop the region. What we got in the budget is just part of it. North Bengal is always neglected and Mamata Banerjee will change that.”

Apart from North Bengal, hotbeds of violence — North and South 24-Parganas, Birbhum, West Midnapore, Burdwan and Nadia — received bounties too. According to TMC leaders, the initiatives will give them an edge over the CPM in these areas.

“For example, in Hooghly, we are fighting neck and neck with CPM and such projects will help us gain popularity,” said a senior Trinamool leader.

BOW TO INDUSTRY
* Expansion and modernisation of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, augmenting its capacity from 200 to 275; setting up a centre of excellence in design and development
* Centres of Excellence in Wagon Prototyping in railway workshops ¿ the first to come up in Kharagpur
* Railway axle factory through private partnership in New Jalpaiguri
* Mid-life rehabilitation workshop for coaches will be set up in Anara in Purulia
* State of the art wagon manufacturing factories in Burdwan, Haldia
* Rail workshop in Dankuni, Hooghly
* Container factory in Budge Budge
* Port connectivity in Haldia, East Midnapore and Sagar, South 24 Parganas
* Coach factory in Kanchrapara, North 24 Parganas. * Diesel multiple unit factory in Sakrail, Howrah

NORTH BENGAL
* Drinking water plants at Mal in Jaipaiguri and Farakka in Murshidabad
* Multi-discipline training centres in Malda and Cooch Behar
* Diagnostic centres in Binnaguri and New Alipurduar
* Mutli-speciality hospitals in Siliguri, New Jalpaiguri and New Mal
* New line project for Balurghat-Hilli
* Alipurduar-Lamding Intercity and Balurghat-intercity and New Jalpaiguri-Chennai Express trains proposed