Siddaramaiah flays BJP chief Nadda for politicising Karnataka woman assault

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday slammed BJP national president J P Nadda for attempting to derive political mileage from the Belagavi incident wherein a woman was paraded naked and thrashed after her son eloped with a girl from the same community and termed it ‘shameful’.

Siddaramaiah’s attack comes following the BJP’s statewide demonstrations and the party sending a ‘fact-finding team’ of four MPs to Belagavi on Saturday.

In a strongly worded statement, the Chief Minister said the BJP’s rule in Karnataka witnessed multiple instances of violence against women, but Nadda has forgotten this to politically target the Congress government. Unfortunately, he is using the recent incident of violence against a woman in Belagavi for politics.

”The violence inflicted on a woman and her family members in Belagavi is highly condemnable. It is shameful that BJP President Nadda is exploiting such an incident for political gain,” Siddaramaiah said.

As soon as the Belagavi incident came to light, state Home Minister G Parameshwara and Minister of Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar visited the survivor’s home not only to console her but also to provide compensation, Siddaramaiah explained.

The police apprehended the culprits within 24 hours and put them behind the bars, he added.

”I am personally overseeing the investigation of this case. Our government is committed to ensuring that such inhumane acts do not recur by meting out strict punishment to the guilty,” Siddaramaiah said.

Noting that the state BJP leaders are also satisfied with the measures taken by the state government, the Chief Minister alleged that Nadda’s sudden awakening and his attempt to stir up this case four days after the incident took place reeks of political motive rather than genuine concern for women.

Citing the National Crime Bureau (NCRB) report, Siddaramaiah said there were 17,813 cases of violence against women in Karnataka during the last year (2022) of BJP rule, compared to 14,468 cases the previous year in 2021.

”What was the BJP National President doing then? Was he in exile? Did he not notice the increasing cases of violence against women under their own government year after year?” the Chief Minister asked.

”From Manipur to Gujarat, from Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh, wherever BJP is in power, the cases of violence against women are rising, as per the NCRB report. These cases prove that BJP is inherently anti-women,” Siddaramaiah said.

He further said the internal disputes in the state BJP are escalating while denting the party’s reputation and senior leaders are making serious allegations against the party chief and opposition leaders.

Siddaramaiah dared Nadda to send an investigative committee to look into these allegations.