Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the situation in Gujarat and accused the ruling government of failing to control it in the state.
Calling the situation in Gujarat disastrous, she described the attacks on the Hindi-speaking migrants in the state as a 'very dangerous trend'.
"This (the attacks) is a very dangerous trend. A disastrous situation. The problem is very serious ... I do not understand why the BJP (government in Gujarat) is not controlling it," the TMC chief said.
Speaking on the issue, the Chief Minister further said, "There was of course provocation behind the act. The people are scared and are fleeing the state. There are so many families staying there for many years and now they have chosen that state as their home. All the people are scared. I am also scared."
Banerjee, a strident critic of the BJP, alleged that the party is only creating confusion and communal tension among people.
BJP, on the other hand, has demanded the expulsion of Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor who has been accused of inciting mob violence against migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Gujarat.
The party's spokesperson Sambit Patra said that if Congress president Rahul Gandhi is actually worried about Gujarat, Bihar and the country then he must immediately sack Thakor from his party.
Several migrant workers from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh fled the state after several mob attacks on them in connection to the rape of a toddler in Sabarkantha.
Since the alleged rape of a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district on September 28, six districts, most of them in north Gujarat, have witnessed sporadic incidents of violence against Hindi-speaking people.
Police have arrested Ravindra Sahu, a labourer hailing from Bihar and working in a local ceramic factory, for the alleged rape.
(With inputs from agencies)
