Abhishek Banerjee says; “Every child in India carries ₹1.44 lakh debt”, compares Bengal and national figures

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee strongly countered allegations about West Bengal’s rising debt, responding to remarks by Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the state’s financial burden. Addressing a public gathering, Banerjee said Shah had claimed that West Bengal’s debt stood at around ₹8 lakh crore and that every child born in the state was effectively born with a debt of about ₹77,000.

Rejecting the criticism, Banerjee argued that the same logic should also be applied to the country’s overall economic situation. He pointed out that before Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, India’s total public debt was around ₹56 lakh crore. According to him, the country’s debt has multiplied significantly over the past 12 years.

Using the comparison to challenge the Centre’s narrative, Banerjee said that if the BJP claims every child in Bengal is born with a debt of ₹77,000, then the situation at the national level is even more serious. He argued that by similar calculations, every child born in India is now born with a debt burden of approximately ₹1.44 lakh.

The Trinamool leader said such comparisons reveal a contradiction in the criticism directed at the West Bengal government. He maintained that the Centre was highlighting state debt for political reasons while ignoring the sharp increase in the country’s overall borrowing during the same period.