Opinion | 26 Reasons Gen Z Will Back Mamata In 2026

"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers." - Swami Vivekananda

Here are 26 reasons why Gen Z will back Mamata Banerjee in 2026.

1. The number of universities in Bengal has increased from 12 in 2011 to 47 now. Fourteen new medical colleges, 51 new government colleges, and 500 new ITIs have been established.
2. Over two crore employment has been generated in the last 14 years.
3. Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub, spread over 200 acres in Rajarhat New Town, is home to 41 Information Technology (IT) companies.
4. Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, IBM, Ericson, Cap Gemini, Tech Mahindra, Accenture, ITC Infotech, British Telecom and other leading global IT companies operating.
5. Land has been taken by 11 companies for data centres, six have been completed, one of which is by a Japanese company.
6. The world's third-largest chip manufacturer, Global Foundries Inc, has a semiconductor facility in Kolkata.
7. TCS alone employs 54,000 people. Building another campus, which will employ 20,000 more.
8. Total direct employment of almost three lakh IT professionals.
9. IT exports from West Bengal crossed Rs 25,000 crore, showing a growing knowledge economy.
10. 3,400 recognised start-ups launched in the last five years, created over 30,000 direct jobs.
11. 47 lakh youth have been skilled under the Utkarsh Bangla scheme.
12. In the last six years, over 44,000 companies have been incorporated in Bengal.
13. West Bengal has over 20 lakh registered MSMEs, which is the second highest in India.
14. Bhyabisyat Credit Card scheme for young entrepreneurs offers subsidy-linked and collateral-free loans for setting up new ventures.
15. The Industry Sector registered a growth of 7.3%, higher than the national figure of 6.2%.
16. Bengal was ranked first nationally by SKOCH in Ease of Doing Business.
17. Eight editions of Bengal Global Business Summit (2015-2025) attracted cumulative investment proposals worth Rs 23,94,595 crore (USD 278 billion).  
18. Two examples. Reliance invested Rs 50,000 crore in the last decade. There will be fresh investment of Rs 50,000 crore in the next 10 years. ITC invested Rs 7500 crore. The group will be investing another Rs 1800 crore in the next three years.
19. Over 19 crore international and domestic tourists came to the state in 2024. Second highest number of international tourists visited Bengal among all states. Revenue of Rs 1 lakh crore was generated from festivals alone.
20. Since 2011, as many as 58 stadiums, 42 youth hostels, 5 indoor stadiums, 795 mini-indoor stadiums, over 4,000 multi-gyms, and 423 playgrounds have been established.
21. 1,352 coaching camps have been given Rs 1 lakh each, and 34 sports organisations are being provided Rs 5 lakh annually.
22. 13 hostels have been established to provide safe and affordable rental housing for unmarried working women.
23. Lakshmir Bhandar scheme provides Rs 1200 per month to women from Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes and Rs 1000 to other women.
24. Between 2014 and 2023, while cybercrime cases increased by 800% across the country, they decreased by 13% in Bengal.
25. Winners, a specially trained all-woman police squad, patrol the city on motorcycles, to check crimes against women.
26. Kolkata has been deemed by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as the safest city for women, four years in a row.

(Derek O'Brien, MP, leads the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author