Rampurahat (WB): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the ruling TMC, alleging that West Bengal had been pushed into an “identity crisis” over the past 15 years because of corruption, extortion and the rise of what he described as “mafia rule”.
Addressing an election rally in Birbhum district’s Rampurhat in support of BJP candidates, Adityanath said the people of Bengal no longer needed the TMC and urged them to back the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls.
“For the last 15 years, Bengal has been facing an identity crisis. Terror, extortion, corruption and mafia raj have become the state’s identity under the TMC,” he said.
“The TMC has turned Bengal from the cultural capital of India into a crime capital. A BJP government will once again make Bengal the cultural capital of the country,” Adityanath said.
He urged people to vote for the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls, saying the people of Bengal no longer needed the TMC.
“For the last 15 years, Bengal has been facing an identity crisis. Terror, extortion, corruption and mafia raj have become the state’s identity under the TMC,” he said.
Adityanath alleged that an atmosphere of fear had been created among common people, particularly women and the youth.
“The people are living in fear. Daughters and sisters are not safe, the youth have no future, and the mafia has flourished under political protection. The BJP is committed to ending this mafia culture,” he said.
Targeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he alleged that the state was in the grip of various mafias.
“Under Mamata Banerjee, Bengal has fallen into the hands of sand mafia, coal mafia, land mafia and cattle mafia. These mafias are flourishing under political patronage,” he claimed.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also accused the TMC government of diverting central funds.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi sends money from Delhi for the poor and for development, but TMC leaders and their supporters loot that money before it reaches the people,” he alleged.
Seeking to draw a parallel between present-day Bengal and Uttar Pradesh before the BJP came to power there in 2017, Adityanath said his state too had once witnessed frequent riots, lawlessness and large-scale corruption.
“The situation that Bengal is witnessing today existed in Uttar Pradesh nine years ago. There was anarchy, fear, riots, criminal gangs and rampant corruption. Funds meant for development were looted,” he said.
“Nine years ago, riots used to take place every second or third day in Uttar Pradesh. Festivals could not be celebrated peacefully. Women were unsafe, hooliganism was at its peak and criminals and mafias controlled everything. Today, the situation has changed completely,” he said.
Claiming that Uttar Pradesh had undergone a transformation under the BJP government, Adityanath said the answer to Bengal’s problems was a “double-engine” government.
