BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday alleged that minority appeasement politics played by the Congress government in Karnataka is leading to terrorist attacks.
“Karnataka is becoming a centre for appeasement as terror attacks are brazen and pro-Pakistan slogans are being raised in Vidhana Soudha. An implicit support is being extended to perpetrators and wrongdoers, who feel that it is alright and they can get away. As a result, the bomb blast happened in Rameshwaram Cafe,” she charged.
She attacked Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao for revealing the identity of a witness by claiming that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had picked up a BJP worker for questioning. “It is unwarranted as revealing the identity of the culprit has one kind of impact, but revealing that of a witness is despicable. Will he protect the witness,” she questioned. She drew a parallel and said after the 2008 Mumbai blasts, Congress coined the phrase ‘Hindu terror’ to deflect the issue.
She charged that the Congress government in the state has given away land given by a donor to the minorities to set up a veterinary hospital.
Listing out issues, including parading and stripping of a tribal woman in Belagavi, she alleged that the government is mishandling the law and order situation as incidents of rape have gone up by 72 per cent since January 2024.
She said, “It is worrying and sad that the cosmopolitan city suffers from water-related problems and the spread of cholera is a very big concern.”
On the Congress manifesto that was released on Friday and that included revisiting the provisions of PMLA and reopening of Rafale and Pegasus ‘scams’, she said Congress leaders should come out clean in cases where they are out on bail. “The manifesto lacks vision. They promise Rs 1 lakh to women annually. Will they fund the scheme by transferring the money from the National Herald Trust,” she mocked.
“BJP does not fear the I.N.D.I.A bloc, which is offering no alternative to Modi’s ideas, except to unseat him and grab power,” she said.
Attacking Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for his statement that the BJP-PMK alliance will be driven out, she said, “If a party and CM believe in democracy, they will not speak like this. It is the language from those who believe in fascism and who are driven by extreme separatist notions. He should measure his words.”