Launching a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government over the "large-scale violence" in West Bengal's panchayat polls, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said civic polls in Uttar Pradesh were held peacefully and asked if the Trinamool Congress wanted to "turn the country into West Bengal". 

In an interview with ANI, Yogi Adityanath hit out at the opposition parties criticizing the BJP government, saying that they were 'silent' over the violence in West Bengal. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also attacked his critics and said that for the last six years in Uttar Pradesh, 'no riots happened, no curfew was imposed' and all festivals were celebrated peacefully.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while not directly taking the name of Trinamool Congress, said that there are people who want to control the entire system after coming to power. He said, 'Opposition party workers were killed in West Bengal. What we saw in West Bengal, how could the opposition work? Workers of opposition parties were beaten up. These things are eye opening. No one speaks on this, no one comments. Everyone is calm.'

Referring to the allegations of preventing many opposition candidates from filing nominations in the panchayat elections, Yogi Adityanath said that every person has the right to contest elections. He said, 'Those who talk big should see how the elections have been held. Urban body, panchayat, assembly elections were held in Uttar Pradesh and panchayat elections were held in West Bengal. What happened? Do they want to make the country like West Bengal, as the TMC government did in West Bengal (and the UP government), there is a difference.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh further said, 'We did not resort to show off or hypocrisy. Everyone has the right to contest elections and should also get it. They can contest elections and if they are able, they will win. If we are capable then we will win, if we are not then we will lose and that should be the case. If the person is a rival and is capable of winning, then he should win. It is a democratic right. We cannot deprive them of this.

He also mentioned the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir. He asked, "What happened in Kashmir in 1990, everyone was silent, why this double face?" Re-polling was held at 696 booths. The fact-finding team of the BJP, which probed the incidents of violence during the recent three-tier panchayat elections in the state, suggested a court-monitored probe and said that bomb blast cases should be referred to the NIA.

Responding to a question about his opponents trying to portray a certain section of the population as the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath said there has been no riot in the state since he became the chief minister. He said riots kill and injure people of all communities and if there are anti-social elements, they are a threat to women of all communities. Yogi Adiyanath said that earlier the image of the state was damaged due to the law and order situation in the state.

He said, 'I have been the Chief Minister of the state for more than six years, my party gave me the responsibility in March 2017 and since then there has not been a single riot. You tell me that only Hindus die when riots happen? Only Hindu's property gets burnt? When riots happen people from both the communities die, property of both the communities gets burnt and daughters of both the communities are unprotected from the evil elements in the society, when curfew is imposed the entire market gets affected.