The BJP on Thursday said that the State was the epicentre of farmer suicides during the Congress rule. As many as 3,781 farmers ended their lives during the past four-and-a-half years, it added.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra told presspersons here that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would have to answer why the Congress government in Karnataka was apathetic towards farmers.
Posing nine other questions to Mr. Gandhi, who began his two-day coastal tour from Uttara Kannada on Thursday, he asked why the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah used lathis against farmers who were protesting in Bengaluru sometime ago. Will Mr. Gandhi apologise for the action, he asked.
The spokesperson said that the Union government gave ₹ 5,456 crore to the State government for irrigation projects. It was according to an answer given by the Union Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in February 2017. But not even a single paisa had been spent.
The Congress would have to answer what happened to the grant, he said.
Mr. Patra said that Mr. Gandhi would have to answer why no alternative to the steel flyover project in Bengaluru was planned. “Did you conceptualise an alternative?” he asked.
He said that the Congress government spent ₹ 468 crore to develop 10 km of arterial roads in Bengaluru. It was costlier than the Chandrayan project which cost ₹ 450 crore, he said.
The spokesperson said that the Congress would have to explain why the Sakala scheme, the flagship scheme of the BJP government in the State, had been done away with.
He charged that more than 800 Dalit women have been raped in the State during the Congress rule and there were 3,857 sexual assault cases registered during its regime. More than 7,000 women have been murdered. “Would you hold a candle light march now?,” he asked.
The spokesperson said that the Congress has adopted appeasement politics. It withdrew 175 cases registered against PFI and SDPI activists. Their 1,500 activists were freed. In all, 24 Hindu activists have been murdered. The Congress owed an answer to people.
Stating that 14 newborns died in government hospitals in the State every day and the State lagged behind in developing national highways, he said that Mr. Gandhi should answer whether he believed in the Siddaramaiah government as the Congress did not have trust in RBI, Chief Justice of India, Aadhaar scheme, Prime Ministers’ Office and EVMs.
