Decoding Mamata Banerjee's last-minute DA arrears move, honorarium hike ahead of ECI poll announcement

Hours before the poll dates of April 23 and April 29 were announced for West Bengal on Sunday by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an increase in dole for priests and muezzins by Rs 500.

“I am pleased to announce an increase of Rs 500 in the monthly honorariums extended to our purohits and muezzins, whose service sustains the spiritual and social life of our communities. With this revision, they will now receive Rs 2,000 per month,” said Mamata Banerjee in her social media post.

The state government has also accepted fresh applications for honorariums for priests and muezzins.

Catering to the interests of the religious sections of society is imperative for CM Banerjee, in order to show that this move isn't just minority appeasement, but religious inclusiveness.

Apart from this, the CM also announced that government employees, including teachers and pension holders, will receive dearness allowance (DA) from March 2026.

“I am happy to announce that our Ma-Mati-Manush government has delivered on its promise to all its employees and pensioners and to lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of our educational institutions, as well as employees/ pensioners of our other grant-in-aid institutions like panchayats, municipal bodies, other local bodies etc,” said Mamata on social media.

“They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards as per the modalities detailed out in the Notifications issued by our Finance Department.”

On February 5, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed the Mamata government to release 25 per cent of pending DA arrears to state government employees and the first instalment of the remaining amount by March 31.

With poll dates being declared, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force till the election's end. Announcements of welfare schemes cannot be made in this period of time.

Mamata’s move to increase honorariums for priests and muezzins and clear the pending arrears of government employees has sparked conversations on the hurry of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to leave no stone unturned and retain power for a third term.

These announcements also come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata saw a huge turnout of saffron party supporters.

“We knew from before that this will happen. It will not make any difference again, BJP will lose,” said TMC minister Chadrima Bhattacharya.

“We welcome the decision of the Election Commission. The people of Bengal are ready to send off the present government,” BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya declared.

Bhattacharya also reacted to Mamata’s announcement earlier in the day.

“The people receiving this dole also know it is their money. You think they (TMC) can cross the magic figure electorally? It is not possible,” Bhattacharya noted.

According to Maidul Islam, Professor of Political Science at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, the move to pacify government employees and the middle class was important for the TMC, and hence the decision to not leave out the DA aspect.

"Trinamool wanted to keep them in good humour and once the demand is met, there is no possibility of anti-government vote," he noted.

“The TMC wants to ensure there is no gap between what they promise and what they deliver. These are the two things, the government officers and middle-class sector has been very anti-Trinamool, unsatisfied since the 2016 Assembly elections because of non-payment of DA,” Prof Islam pointed out.

Since many government officials are also on poll duty, for the TMC at this juncture, looking at them as an important vote bank for the ruling party is something Mamata has likely realised. However, the ballot box is where the real test of their loyalty for TMC will stand, beyond their professional allegiances towards the ruling establishment.