Home Minister rubbishes BJP’s chargesheet

Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday termed as “baseless” Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s claims that the law and order situation in Karnataka had deteriorated.

While releasing the State BJP’s chargesheet against the Congress government on Sunday, Mr. Prasad had said there was a three-fold increase in crimes in Karnataka and a steep rise in the number of farmers committing suicide in the last three years.

Dismissing the chargesheet, Mr. Reddy said between 2008 and 2013, when the BJP governed the State, the number of criminal cases registered were 1,12,213, whereas 1,13,939 such cases were reported from May 2013 to February 2018.

“There is a slight increase in crime compared with the BJP regime’s time, but it is not proportional to the increase in Bengaluru’s population by 35 lakh. The Union Law Minister does not know the law. His statements are baseless,” he said.

Questioning the figures on suicides by farmers released by the BJP, the Home Minister said, “We waived agricultural loans worth ₹8,500 crore to help farmers and we did not receive a single paisa from the Centre to assist the farmers The BJP leaders should know that Maharashtra, which is ruled by BJP, still tops in the number of farmers committing suicide.”