Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday alleged that incidents of cattle smuggling, and love jihad were going on in West Bengal as the Trinamool Congress government was indulging in appeasement politics.
Mr. Adityanath was addressing a public meeting in Malda district to mark the culmination of the BJP’s ‘parivartan yatra’ in north Bengal.
“Through fraud and deceit, incidents of love jihad are taking place in West Bengal. We have made a law against love jihad in Uttar Pradesh. But in West Bengal, where the State government is indulging in politics of appeasement, neither are there attempts of curb cattle smuggling nor dangerous incidents of love jihad, which will have serious implications for future,” he said.
Mr. Adityanath claimed that after the BJP formed the government in the State all “illegal cattle slaughter houses” were closed and incidents of cattle smuggling had stopped.
This is his first political rally in the State in the run-up to the Assembly polls. It was held at Gazole in Malda, a district with majority Muslim population .
A section of political observers feel that such public meetings are aimed at “polarisation of the electorate” in minority dominated areas closer to India-Bangladesh border.
In his half-an-hour speech, Mr. Adityanath made repeated allegations such as “Durga Pujas were not allowed” and the State government was “preventing people from chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.” He said, that those who were opposed to ‘Jai Shri Ram’ have no place in the country. “I want to ask the Trinamool Congress government why they are opposed to ‘Ram bhakts’ but have nexus with forces that bring anarchy in the State,” he stated. There was state-sponsored violence in the State when the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was passed in Parliament, he said.
Expressing the hope that a BJP government would be formed in West Bengal after May 2, when the results of Assembly polls would be announced, he criticised the Trinamool Congress on several counts, including law and order and safety of women.
Trinamool reaction
Trinamool Congress was quick to respond to the allegations. It said that the people of West Bengal did not need sermons on law and order from the Chief Minister of a State which has recorded the highest crime against women. It raised the issue of a man who was allegedly shot dead in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh after he protested against sexual assault on his daughter.
“Yet ANOTHER Hathras! The count of dreadful incidents being reported from the @BJP4India-ruled UP is unending! The people of UP are suffering as the state of law and order is in shackles, yet @myogiadityanathis in Bengal??#BJPHataoBetiBachao,” TMC MP Kakuli Ghosh Dastidar said on social media.
