KOLKATA: A day after presenting the maiden BJP budget in the state, finance minister Swapan Dasgupta said much of the praise that has been heaped on the proposals is because people are overwhelmed to discover hope after half a century of despair.“The budget appears to be great because we, the people of Bengal, had given up hope for 50 years. The sense of despair was palpable, especially among the elderly. They used to rue that their children had moved to other cities and they would never get to spend time with their grandchildren. Family properties were being usurped or changing hands,” Dasgupta recounted on Tuesday morning.Dasgupta was at the Lions Safari Park along with minister of panchayat and rural development Dilip Ghosh to inaugurate a Nature Diversity Park.“We have to reverse the despair and revive hope and the budget is a step towards reclaiming Bengal’s lost glory. Every nook and corner of Kolkata, especially south Kolkata, carries some memory for me. Keep that emotional link, but remember, Bengal and Kolkata is not just about heritage and nostalgia. We need to focus on the future. Let not Kolkata be a place with a glorious past and uncertain future. We need to enhance the commitment to rebuild Bengal. Please don’t despair,” the FM said.Ghosh, who also heaped generous praise on the budget, terming it a crucial step towards east and Bengal’s significant contribution towards the country’s endeavor to becoming a trillion dollar economy, urged on everyone present to make Bengal great again.“With new India, we need to build a new Bengal. I went to Mumbai recently where I met many businessmen who hail from Kolkata and Bengal but had shifted base to Mumbai Delhi and other cities in the past decades because they were driven away. Many of them said they were again setting up offices in Kolkata. I want to say that we will welcome them back and want them to participate in making our state prosperous again,” said Ghosh.
