BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday (August 24) drew a parallel between the West Bengal Chief Minister and her Uttar Pradesh counterpart and said that “an able administrator like Yogi Adityanath should have been at the helm” in Mamata Banerjee-led state and advocated for “encounters” of those committing crimes against women.
Speaking to the media outside the West Bengal Assembly, Adhikari expressed his anger against the lathicharge and arrest of the VHP workers protesting against the recent rape and murder incident of a schoolgirl, while the perpetrators are yet to be booked.
"Utter lawlessness prevails in the state. A young schoolgirl was brutalised and murdered in Matigara recently. Earlier, similar incidents happened in Kaliaganj and Hanskhali. In all places, young girls have been violated or killed. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also holds the law and order portfolio, has squarely failed to stop atrocities on women," the BJP leader said.
He said that those indulging in crimes against women should be dealt with “sternly”.
"Criminals, who commit such barbaric acts on children and women, should be sternly dealt with. They must face encounters," Adhikari said.
Drawing parallels with Uttar Pradesh, Adhikari said, "an able administrator like Yogi Adityanath, who has treated all criminals the appropriate way," should have been at the helm.
TMC hits back
Reacting to the BJP leader’s remarks, the Trinamool Congress said that he should be booked for openly advocating the encounter system.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Joy Prakash Majumdar said that a case against Adhikari should be filed for his statement as he has taken oath under the Constitution and cannot advocate such violent methods.
"Even in the Nirbhaya case, the due process of law was followed and it was left to the judicial system,” he said.
"Adhikari, being a people's representative and having taken oath under the Constitution, cannot go beyond the law of the land," he added.
Majumdar said that the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh is marked by encounters and bulldozer politics, for which it has been pulled up as these are the violations of human rights.
"Adhikari has become the proponent for encounters and bulldozer politics which will instill fear and anarchy in society against democratic traditions,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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