NEW DELHI: Parading the kin of three slain BJP workers on the dais at an election rally in Bengal’s Purulia on Tuesday, UP CM Yogi Adityanath declared the end of “anarchy” in Bengal was near and that goons allegedly harboured by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool would be brought to book once his party came to office in the state.
The remarks drew a double-edged Twitter retort from Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra. “So Yogi CM comes to WB today, says he will kill ‘TMC goondas’ one by one. Gudduji – listen up – your thok do culture… doesn’t work here,” she said.
“May 2 ke baad TMC ki vidai sunishchit hai. Yeh TMC ke gunday, yeh kanoon ko nahi maante…Jab BJP ki sarkar aayegi to in goondon ko chun chun ke saza dilwayi jayegi (TMC’s departure is certain after May 2. TMC goons know no law, but when BJP comes to power, all these goons will be punished,” Yogi said in Purulia.
Besides Purulia, the UP CM addressed rallies in Bankura and West Medinipur districts, lacing his speeches with references to the alleged culture of “tolabaazi (extortion)” and “cut money” under TMC.
Harking back to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Yogi said such was Trinamool’s alleged intolerance that he was stopped from campaigning in Purulia. He had then landed in Jharkhand before driving down 35km to reach Purulia. “There is no stopping misuse of power in West Bengal even today,” he said, claiming that scores of BJP supporters had been stopped from reaching the venue of his rally.
Yogi claimed Bengal CM Mamata’s alleged dislike for the “Jai Shri Ram” chant had translated into restricting people from using it. “Those who try to separate people from Ram get routed from power,” he said, accusing the state government of playing with the sentiments of Hindus.
The CM said there was already a precedent of “Ram Virodhi (anti-Ram)” governments being driven out of power in UP.
Yogi said that before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, there were many people who thought that visiting temples would put secularism in danger. “But now things have changed. Even Mamata Didi is visiting temples and reciting Chandi Path (invocation to the mother goddess),” he said. “Yeh Parivartan hai na. Yeh hai naya Bharat…har vyakti ko Bhagwan ki sharan mein jaana hi padega (This is the change. This is new India. Everybody will have to be at God’s feet).”
On former Congress president Rahul Gandhi going on a “temple run” during elections, Yogi said opposition leaders being forced to visit shrines was no less than a “Vaicharik vijay (ideological victory)” for BJP.
Hailing Bengal as a land of Sanskritik Rashtravad (cultural nationalism), Yogi said that the state had produced stalwarts like Ram Krishna Paramhansa, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Subhash Chandra Bose. “The state was poised to be an axis of development at the time of Independence. Unfortunately, Congress, the communists and then TMC rendered it hollow. The prestige of the state is under threat.”
Yogi accused TMC of depriving people of the benefits of welfare scheme initiated by the Narendra Modi government. “This is because TMC goons do not allow the schemes to get implemented,” he said.
BJP’s saffron mascot also accused the TMC government of allowing rampant cow slaughter. He claimed that a minister in the Mamata cabinet had been lately advocating cow slaughter. “He should have been immediately sacked. But that was not done since the TMC chief herself has been supporting such people.”