Take care of Uttar Pradesh first: Mamata Banerjee mocks Yogi Adityanath

Yogi Adityanath is due to address a rally in Purulia on Tuesday.

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took a swipe at her Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath and asked her to take care of his state first before commenting on other states.

''Ask Yogi to take care of Uttar Pradesh first, '' she said when journalists asked questions related to her government's refusal to let UP CM's helicopter land in the state.

''This is not correct,'' the firebrand West Bengal leader said.

''So many people have been killed, even police were murdered, so many people were lynched, he himself will lose if he contests an election. He doesn’t have a place to stand in UP that’s why he's roaming around in Bengal,'' Mamat said.

#WATCH WB CM Mamata Banerjee:Ask Yogi to take care of Uttar Pradesh first. So many ppl have been killed,even police were murdered,so many ppl were lynched,he himself will lose if he contests elections.He doesn’t have a place to stand in UP that’s why he's roaming around in Bengal pic.twitter.com/ijtBwTHdvX

— ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2019

The TMC chief made these remarks while addressing a gathering at the Metro Channel -  the site of her ongoing protest against the Centre over CBI's bid to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in connection with the chit fund scam cases. 

The remarks from TMC leader came at a time when UP CM 's due to arrive in West Bengal's Purulia district to address a rally this afternoon. 

Adityanath, who was earlier denied permission to land in West Bengal, will travel to the TMC-ruled state to address a public rally in Purulia on Tuesday.

The saint-politician will land in Jharkhand's Bokaro and take the road to reach Purulia.

He is scheduled to address the rally at Nabakunja Maidan, Near Bhangara Mod in Purulia, said reports.

Yogi Adityanath's rally in Purulia comes amid the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government's ongoing tussle with the Centre over CBI's move to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

The UP Chief Minister was scheduled to address a rally in Bankura on Monday, however, it was cancelled by the West Bengal BJP as the district administration denied permission for his chopper to land in the state.

The TMC-BJP tussle became uglier on Sunday with the West Bengal government denying permission to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies in north Bengal. 

Adityanath had to address the rallies in Raigunj and Balurghat via telephone.

Earlier on Monday, a high-level BJP delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner and complained about the situation in West Bengal and its government's repeated refusal to grant permission for BJP leaders to hold rallies ahead of the state.

The delegation, among other demands, urged the poll panel to deploy central security forces to ensure smooth conduct of free and fair polls in West Bengal.   

The West Bengal government denied permission to other BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani to conduct rallies, ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

During Amit Shah's rally at Malda, permission to land his helicopter was denied. 

His chopper later landed on private property owned by a resort. Smriti Irani's chopper was also not allowed to land at Jhargram where she was scheduled to address a public rally.

(With Agency inputs)