Politics of appeasement: BJP flays Congress over Karnataka govt withdrawing case against rioters

The BJP on Friday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of indulging in “politics of appeasement” and asked how will the party protect the country’s democracy if it cannot even protect the police personnel of the state under its rule.

This came after the Karnataka government decided to withdraw a criminal case registered against a group of people, who had attacked the policemen with stones in Hubballi town on April 16, 2022.

“I am absolutely flabbergasted. This is nothing but the politics of appeasement. There were extremely serious allegations. There was an attack on a police station. Over 158 people were involved in this case of serious rioting,” BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj told a press conference at the party headquarters here when asked for comment.

The police personnel had suffered injuries in the incident, she said and asked if the Congress government in Karnataka cannot protect the “protectors of the country”, how will it protect democracy.

“I am really shocked to see that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar wrote to the Karnataka Police department asking for withdrawal of these cases. This is in contravention to the report submitted both by the state police department as well as the law department,” the BJP MP said.

Swaraj alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka has decided to withdraw the case to serve its selfish political interest.

“The Karnataka government is only practicing politics of appeasement,” she added.