Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday took on the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal as he alleged that there has been an attempt to ban ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogan in the state whereas ‘love jihad’ and cow smugling are rampant dur to “appeasement politics”.

Addressing a rally in Malda district, Yogi Adityanath said, “Durga Puja gets prohibited in Bengal today and cow slaughter is forcefully started during Eid. People’s sentiments are toyed with through cow smuggling. The state government remains silent. Now, there is an attempt to ban slogan of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and attacks are executed.” Accusing the ruling TMC of practicing appeasement politics, Yogi Adityanath said, “Love jihad is being executed here. We have made a law against it in Uttar Pradesh. But in West Bengal, there is appeasement politics. As a reason, the state government is unable to stop cow smuggling and love jihad. These dangerous activities will show results in the time to come.”

He further said, “I would like to tell the Bengal government and Mamata didi that there was a government in Uttar Pradesh, which used to fire bullets at Lord Ram devotees in Ayodhya. You can see the condition of that government now. Now, it is the turn of the TMC government in Bengal.”

“The national leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and every worker of the party has come here to connect to the Bengali brothers and sisters to re-establish the identity of Bengal and carry forward a new change through this. West Bengal has always been a land of cultural nationalism in India. It has been the land of the revolution for India’s freedom struggle. Today it hurts us and the entire country when we see an environment of anarchy here,” he said.

The elections for the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will begin on 27 March.

Srinagar: Reacting to National Conference leader and former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s statement that the Congress should give a united response to the divisive politics of BJP, the saffron party has hit back saying that divisive politics is the core ideology of the Abdullahs and the National Conference.

Farooq Abdullah has been very critical of BJP in the recent past and has claimed that by abrogation of Article 370 they have ruined the economy of all the three regions of erstwhile J&K state and have also filled the regions with the poison of communalism.

Senior BJP leader from Jammu, who is also former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta, said that it was because of the communal politics of the National Conference that Kashmiri Pandits were driven out from their own homeland in the Valley.

After the recent show of strength by all the “rebel Congress leaders” in Jammu, Farooq Abdullah said that he wanted to see Congress as a single unit so that it could take on the BJP and its divisive politics.

In recent times, there has been a war of words between Farooq Abdullah and many leaders of BJP in Jammu, blaming each other for playing communal politics for the sake of power.

On Tuesday, Youth Congress leaders and activists in Jammu burned the effigy of Ghulam Nabi Azad for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that he was conspiring against the party at the behest of the BJP to weaken it for his own promotion and gains.

This reaction has come after the “rebel” Congress leaders held several public meetings in the Jammu region to convey a message of strength to the party leadership as they want the coterie around Gandhis to be replaced by the elected leaders and more transparency within the party.

These leaders have publicly criticised the party leadership for being invisible on the ground and said that they were the real Congress and will not leave the party but overhaul it.

Anand Sharma, another senior party leader, criticised the Congress leadership for entering into an alliance with a Muslim cleric in Bengal.

Reports from Jammu said that the protests were led by DDC member and former general secretary of J&K Congress Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary, who came to Jammu Press Club with his supporters to burn effigy of Azad amid slogans in favour of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

“Congress has always put him (Azad) on the top and when the party needed his experience at the time of crisis, he came to Jammu and Kashmir and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi who deprived us of statehood. It is clear that he is working at the behest of the BJP to weaken the party for his personal gains,” Choudhary was quoted by news agencies outside the press club in Jammu.

The protesting Congress leaders said that instead of praising PM Modi, Azad should have used his experience to help Congress to come out of the present crisis. They also demanded stern action against the entire rebel Congress leaders by the party high command

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Tuesday said that West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s criticism of his ‘concerns’ as “unfortunate”, adding that he believes in a civilised political dialogue even if there are differences or ideological issues.

Sharma had earlier tweeted his concerns about Congress’ alliance with Indian Secular Front (ISF), a Muslim outfit headed by the cleric of a local shrine, in West Bengal, saying: “Alliance with ISF and other such parties is against the ideology of Congress and should have been discussed at Congress Working Committee (CWC).” To this, Chowdhury said, “We are in charge of a state and don’t take any decision on our own without any permission.”

“What I said is expression of my concerns. Not only am I firmly committed to the Congress’ ideology, which is inclusive, democratic and secular, but I’m also one of the historians and ideologues of the Congress party. It has to be taken in that context. There is no politics in this. I have said something and it is for others to take the note,” Sharma told ANI.

“It’s unfortunate statement, I believe in civilised political dialogue and discourse. Even if there are differences and ideological issues, those differences cannot be personal. I have noted what Adhir babu said but I can’t become personal,” he added.

When asked about his ‘rebellion’ with other G-23 members (or the group of 23 dissenting leaders, who had questioned the party’s functioning in a letter to interim president Sonia Gandhi), Sharma said there is no rebellion. “Who are we rebelling against? We believe in leadership of Sonia Gandhi. We have never said a word against the party leadership…Yes, we have our concerns from last the two general elections and it’s a fact. What we are saying have to be understood in the right context. We said openly that we want to strengthen the party and we are united Congress. We don’t want anything that can weaken the party,” Sharma said.

He added that Congress always had a positive democratic exercise of internal discussion and debates. “Hopefully party will come out of this phase and we will see strong revival. That is what we will work for. We wish the Congress candidate the best in the forthcoming Assembly elections and wherever we are asked to go and campaign, we will do so as Congressmen, as we have done in the past,” he said.

Commenting on BJP’s allegation of Congress losing its secular status and depending on communal alliances for survival, Sharma said, “BJP also have alliances. It is infamous for its polarising agenda and divisive politics. BJP does not have the right credentials and qualifications to make such charges.”

With ANI inputs