The act of removing the Hanuma flag in Mandya is another sign of the policies of appeasement politics being played by the Congress government, the former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Haveri on Sunday.
The Siddaramaiah government is using police officers to do things like removing the flag. This is condemnable, the BJP leader said.
On the one hand, Mr. Siddaramaiah keeps chanting the mantra of “Sarva Janangada Shanthiya Thota” and on the other, his government is indulging in appeasement politics.
“The law and order situation in the State has deteriorated completely. The State machinery and the police are giving protection to those involved in illegal activities rather than the victims,” he told reporters.
“There have been several law and order disturbances during the consecration of Lord Ram last week. This is due to the appeasement politics and protection being given to anti-social elements,” he said.
The former Chief Minister said that atrocities against women have increased by 30% since the Congress came to power in the State. However, no strict action has been taken despite attacks on Dalit and a minority woman. There is no fear of the law among the offenders. The situation is akin to the jungle raj that was in Bihar, he said.
He found fault with the way the government handled the gang rape in Hangal. “A special investigation team should have been constituted. But it was not. We will file a public interest litigation petition in the High Court seeking SIT probe,” he said.
He said that the AHINDA communities have got a raw deal under Siddaramaiah. “He came to power in the name of AHINDA. But what has he done for those communities? He became the Chief Minister twice by using AHINDA as a steppingstone. He diverted ₹11,000 crore meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes welfare, to implement the guarantee schemes. This led to the Dalits being deprived of benefits,” he said.
He said that only the BJP government has done justice to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.
“When we launched several schemes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes welfare, the Congress leaders termed them as election stunts. Despite such criticism, the BJP government hiked reservation for those communities in education and employment. Now, the Congress government is holding a State-sponsored convention for AHINDA communities, nothing else,” he said.
To a query on the former Minister Janardhan Reddy’s support to the BJP, Mr. Bommai said that Mr. Reddy has been in BJP for long and he has natural appreciation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also clarified he is not an aspirant for party nomination for the Haveri-Gadag parliamentary seat.
