Purba Medinipur (West Bengal) [India], April 12 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday criticised the law and order situation under Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, alleging prevalence of 'anarchy, hooliganism, looting, appeasement, and riots' in the State.

Addressing a public gathering in Purba Medinipur, he said that anarchy, violence, and unrest currently seen in the state were similar to conditions in Uttar Pradesh prior to 2017, before a double-engine BJP government was formed.

'The kind of anarchy, hooliganism, looting, appeasement, and riots that are happening in Bengal today were also prevalent in UP before 2017,' Adityanath said.

Highlighting changes in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leader said, ''Aaj UP mein no curfew, no danga. Aaj UP mein hai sab changa'(There are no riots in Uttar Pradesh anymore. There is no curfew, no riots. Everything is fine in UP)...Namaz is not offered on the streets anymore. Shouting doesn't emanate from mosques. There is a strict law for love jihad. Cow slaughter cannot happen. Every daughter, every businessman is safe. Every hand has work, every field has water... Even Congress and SP could not stop UP's development,' asserting improvement in the state's law and order situation after the BJP was voted to power in the State.

'. All the mafia that existed there has gone to hell. No mafia, no goons. Now every citizen is safe there...' he said.

Adityanath said, 'Today, the Mayor of Kolkata openly challenges you. He says that half the population of Bengal will speak Urdu. That means they want to eradicate the Bangla language. They want to wipe out the Bengali identity.... Tell these people that if they insist on Urdu, go to the place where Urdu is actually spoken...'

In the 2021 Assembly polls, TMC secured a landslide 213 seats. Meanwhile, BJP's growth from a minor player to 77 seats in the last cycle has set the stage for the current high-stakes confrontation.

West Bengal is set for two phases of assembly polls on April 23 and 29, with the results set for May 4. (ANI)