BJP attacks Cong govt over murder of young woman, says it failed to maintain law & order situation

PTI, May 17, 2024, 9:18 AM IST

Opposition BJP on Thursday came down heavily on the Congress government in Karnataka over the murder of a young woman in Hubballi, accusing it of having failed in maintaining the law and order situation, and losing its grip on the administration.

Former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar, and former Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan took a dig at the Siddaramaiah-led administration following the murder of 20-year-old Anjali Ambiger in Hubballi on Wednesday, close on the heels of the student Neha Hiremath killing at her college campus in the same city on April 18.

“Among the reasons for the murder, the role of police is also big, police are indirectly responsible for the murder as they have been unable to stop it. Law and order situation has completely deteriorated across the state,” Bommai alleged while speaking to reporters in Gadag.

He charged the government with using the police to suppress political opponents. “After elections, police are indulging in filing cases against opposition party workers like atrocity cases.”

In Hubballi, Shettar said the Congress government has no grip on the administration.

“After the Neha Hiremath murder case, we felt that police will be alert or there would be directions from the top including the Chief Minister and Home Minister to take stringent measures to maintain the law and order, but the state government seems to have taken the things easily, so one after the other murders are happening,” he said.

Referring to Anjali’s murder case, Shettar said given the increase in the number of such incidents across the state, it is obvious that the government has failed to maintain the law and order, and the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Home Minister G Parameshwara and the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar should take responsibility.

Ashwath Narayan said in Bengaluru that the government is about to complete one year in office, and this period saw incidents of murders, extortion, and “exuberance of fanatic forces”, adding, “appeasement politics” is on the raise and the law and order situation has completely deteriorated.

“This is an incapable and zero development government, and it has failed in administration and corruption is rampant in all departments, especially in the Home Department,” he alleged.