Mamata attacks Yogi govt over move to seize assets

KOLKATA:Lashing out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, which has threatened to attach properties of people involved in arson during protests against the citizenship law, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could meet the same fate in states where it is not in power.

“They are threatening to attach properties of protesters and initiate strong action against them in Uttar Pradesh. There are many states where non-BJP parties are in power. Would you (BJP) like it if the same is applied against you? Such actions won’t do any good to state or the nation,” Banerjee said while addressing a protest rally in Kolkata.

The Uttar Pradesh government recently said that it will recover from rioters the cost of damage done to public property and expenses in maintaining law and order during violent protests.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh

Sharma said the procedure for the same had already started and property will be attached in cases where people fail to pay penalty.

“I would ask the BJP not to play with fire. Even we (Bengal government) have laws. But they are not meant for a spontaneous movement,” she said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party reacted to Mamata’s statements.

“The railways have lost property worth Rs 300 crore and Banerjee has not lodged FIR against the culprits,” said West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

At the rally, Banerjee also criticised Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa for withdrawing the ex gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) offered to the families of the two people who were killed in police firing. Trinamool Congress, despite being a poor party, will send a delegation of trade union leaders to support the victim’s families,” she said. She later clarified that each family will be given Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) by TMC. She said the BJP had lost the support of the people in Karnataka and demanded elections in the state.

“In Karnataka, the government exists only on signboards. People are not with you. Conduct a poll and see it for yourself,”she said.