Hindus under 'attack' in K'taka, Cong govt forced Governor to lie: BJP

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP on Monday slammed the Congress government on the Governor’s speech addressed in the joint session in Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka said that the Hindus are under “attack” in the State and the Congress government has forced the Governor to “lie”.

“The terrorist activities are rising in the state. The Congress government’s claim of maintaining law and order is also shameful. The state government has also forced the honourable Governor to lie while projecting the work done by BJP as its own,” the LoP told media persons.

He said that the hatred towards Hindus is on rise in the state. “Terrorist activities have alarmingly surged but the state government is describing it as a beautiful garden for all religions,” he said.

He said that the government has fomented hatred between Hindus and Muslims. “The Congress government released Rs 1,000 crore for Muslims but when asked for compensation for other communities, they point fingers at the Central government, saying they have not released the funds,” he said.

He said that the Congress claims that they have implemented all five guarantees but under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, the unemployed are yet to get the allowance.

“They claim that drought relief has also been released but relief should not be given in installments. The previous BJP government had released the relief amount in only one installment to the farmers. We had also demanded Rs 25,000 relief for each farmer but it was not even discussed and they are unnecessarily blaming the Central government,” Ashoka said.

He said that the children are given a chikki sweet dish and they are made to wash toilets.

“Shivamogga Airport was built during former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s tenure. The Metro Rail project is under the Centre. Jal Jeevan Mission is also a contribution of the Central government. However, all these projects are claimed by the Karnataka Congress government,” he said.

He said that on one hand, the Congress government claims to be the protector of the Kannada language but on the other hand the same government jails the Kannada activists.

“The government also claims that despite the drought, the number of suicides of farmers have come down. Minister Shivananda Patil has also made derogatory statements, saying that farmers commit suicide to get compensation,” the LoP said.

He said that the suicide cases are only increasing and have not decreased as claimed by the government.

He said that the State government had announced Rs 2,000 compensation for namesake and not all farmers have been provided the relief amount.

“There are technical issues with the registration process and shamelessly the government claims that farmers are given compensation,” the LoP said.

He said that the state economy is in doldrums and the treasury is empty due to the guarantee schemes of the Congress government.

Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reacting to the Governor's address termed it as disappointing, saying he had never heard such a lacklustre speech.

Bommai said that the Congress government has taken credit for all those schemes and works that were undertaken by the BJP government.

“The government claimed to have spent Rs 10,000 crore on irrigation schemes in the last eight months. They must share details of the money spent on every scheme,” he said.

Replying to the government's allegations that the Centre has not released the funds, Bommai said the BJP will discuss it in the ongoing session. “We have the documents to prove the funds that the state received during the UPA and NDA tenures,” he said.

He said that the Constitution treats all religions equally but the Congress government had been appeasing a particular community.

State President and BJP MLA B.Y. Vijayendra said that the speech by the Governor does not deserve any reaction from the Opposition leaders.

“It is a speech made to cover the failures of the government. The menace of brokers has crossed all limits now. This is a 50 per cent commission government,” he added.