Lucknow, April 23 -- A day before the first phase of polling in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday stepped up his attacks on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, alleging she wanted to erase Bengal's identity.

Without directly naming Mamata Banerjee or her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Adityanath said, "Bua bhatija dono Bengal ke astitva ko khatm karna chahte hain (the aunt-nephew duo wants to erase the identity of Bengal). He said no one would be allowed to tamper with the identity of Bengal.

He accused the Kolkata mayor (without naming him) of favouring Urdu there and asserted that Bengali will be spoken in Bengal, and through Bengali culture, India will reach new heights.

Adityanath appealed t...