BJP's Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh courted controversy again by threatening to shoot and kill those involved in damaging public property "like the same way in Uttar Pradesh," reports Times of India.

Addressing a public meeting in West Bengal's Nadia, Ghosh came down heavily on TMC's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "for not opening fire and ordering lathi charge" on those destroying railway property and public transport during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in the state in December last year.

"Who do they think the public property that they are destroying belongs to? Their father? Public property belongs to the taxpayers. You (Mamata) do not say anything because they are your voters. In Assam and Uttar Pradesh, our government has shot these people like dogs," Ghosh said on Sunday (Jan 12).

He said, "The governments of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka did the right thing by opening fire on these anti-national elements (during anti-CAA protests)."

Ghosh also called for identifying those "sabotaging the interests" of Hindu Bengalis as he claimed that there are two crore "Muslim infiltrators" in the country. "One crore alone is in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee is trying to protect them," he claimed.

The BJP MP was attending an event in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which makes religion a criteria for citizenship for the first time.

BJP Minister Babul Supriyo on Monday (Jan 13) distanced the party from Ghosh’s remark, calling it ‘very irresponsible’.

Violent protests had erupted across the country against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.