'Yogi biggest Bhogi': Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at UP CM over 'Bengal is burning' remark

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. (File photos/PTI)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after he targeted her over the violence in Murshidabad and said that "Yogi is biggest Bhogi"

She also raked up the issue of deaths during the Maha Kumbh stampede in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a gathering of Imams in the aftermath of the violence in Bengal during protests against the Waqf Amendment Act, Mamata Banerjee said, "Yogi is saying big things. He is the biggest Bhogi (materialistic). Multiple lives were lost in Maha Kumbh. Many people are killed in encounters in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi doesn't let people take out rallies. There is a lot of freedom in Bengal."

Banerjee further urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to implement the "atrocious" Waqf (Amendment) Act, warning that it would divide the country, and requested him to rein in Union Home Minister Amit Shah, whom she accused of "harming the nation most for his own political agenda".

Earlier, targeting the Bengal CM over the Murshidabad violence, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said "Bengal is burning" and its chief minister is "silent".

"Danda is the only treatment for rioters. You can see, Bengal is burning. The Chief Minister is silent. She is calling rioters 'peace ambassadors'. Laton ke bhoot baaton se kahan manne wale hain (Those who understand only the language of beatings don't understand words)," he said.

"In the name of secularism, they have given freedom to rioters. The government is silent. Such anarchy should be controlled," Yogi added.

Murshidabad violence

Widespread protests broke out in several areas of Murshidabad after the Centre implemented the WWaqf Act. Three people died in anti-Waqf Act violence, while some people were also injured in violence in the South 24 Parganas district.