There is no development left,” claimed West Bengal (WB) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while launching the TMC manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections. However, consider the per capita income (PCI) numbers of WB: In 1960-61, when Congress held office in the state, WB ranked second in the country on a PCI basis, just behind Maharashtra. By the time the Left Front took over in 1977, it had slipped to the fifth position. And when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress took over the reins in 2011, the state had fallen to the 17th position. Three terms later, WB ranks 16th, with a PCI of Rs 1,63,467 — well below the national average of Rs 2,05,324 and far behind Telangana’s Rs 3,87,623.

This is not to suggest that WB has stagnated in the past five decades. On social indicators, the state’s story is more impressive. Female literacy among the 15-49 age group stands at 93.1 per cent (according to the Sample Registration System, or SRS, 2023). At 1.3, WB’s total fertility rate is in line with the southern states, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu (SRS, 2023). This has translated into a population growth rate of just 0.5 per cent per annum, against India’s 0.9 per cent, and Bihar’s 1.43 per cent. Why haven’t these gains translated into higher incomes?

One reason is the state’s consistent failure to attract and retain private investment. The pivotal moment came in 2008, when the late Ratan Tata announced that Tata Motors would withdraw from the Nano plant in Singur, attributing the decision to Mamata Banerjee’s anti-land acquisition agitation against the Left Front government. The signal to corporate........

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