‘Let the debate begin’: Amid need for expedited action in Manipur, BJP, Congress, TMC spur over ‘silence’

livemint.com:

BJP and I.N.D.I.A (the rechristened opposition alliance). Both camps seems to have taken opportunity in the dreadful incident and instead of aiding an expedited action and bringing the victims to justice by punishing the perpetrators, both camps had resorted to mudslinging, probably with several assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections in mind.

BJP raised the incidents of atrocities against women in West Bengal and Rajasthan and questioned the "silence" of the opposition, which termed it as a diversionary tactic to avoid debate on the situation in the north-eastern state. Meanwhile, the opposition has been demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Manipur inside Parliament followed by an unhindered debate in both houses The BJP fielded Union minister Anurag Thakur who alleged that there is a long list of heinous crimes against women in states ruled by opposition parties such as Rajasthan, West Bengal and Bihar, but they were playing politics over the Manipur incident.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Thakur slammed former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and the leaders of other opposition parties, accusing them of remaining silent on cases of crimes against women in non-BJP ruled states. "Over one lakh cases of crimes against women have been registered in Rajasthan in the last four years.

A total of 33,000 cases pertaining to sexual assault on women in Rajasthan," Thakur alleged. Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Thakur also hit out at the Congress for sacking its minister in Rajasthan after he raised the issue of crime against women in his state.

Thakur alleged that it has been done on the instructions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. BJP