The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
CM ‘diluting’ case, says Nadda; Siddaramaiah accuses BJP of playing politics over murder
THE MURDER of the daughter of a Congress corporator in Karnataka has turned into a political slugfest with BJP national president J P Nadda visiting the victim’s residence and criticising Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for “diluting the case for appeasement politics”. Rejecting the allegations, Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP of “playing politics over a murder”.
While the Congress has denied any “love jihad” link to the incident, the BJP is claiming that the state government has shut the door of investigation by making such statements to “appease its vote bank”.
On April 18, Neha Hiremath, 21, the daughter of Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed by her former classmate on the campus of KLE Technological University.
She was a first-year MCA student. The police arrested the accused within hours of the incident and produced him before the magistrate, who sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
While police investigation suggests Neha and Fayaz were in a love relationship, her family members have denied it and said that the accused was pestering the victim and she had rejected his proposal. The accused's father, Baba Saheb Subani, and mother, Mumtaz, have also said that the two were in a relationship and demanded “stringent punishment for their son's crime”. Soon after the murder, BJP leaders in Karnataka termed it a case of “love jihad”. The Hubballi district BJP unit has called for protests all across the state on Monday.
Muslim organisations have also given a call for bandh on Monday over the killing. Dharwad-based Anjuman-eislam president Esmail Tamatgar said all the businessmen from Muslim community will observe a bandh from 10 am to 3 pm.
Reacting to the BJP'S “love jihad” allegations, CM Sidda ramai ah said,“i condemn the murder of Neha and this is not a love jihad case. government has taken up the case seriously and it is unfortunate that politics is played over the death of a person.”
Home minister G Parameshwara too denied any “love jihad” angle to the incident. “As per my information, they were in love and the boy stabbed the girl after she distanced herself from him,” Parameshwara said. State BJP leaders attacked the Congress for being “insensitive” towards the killing. Nadda, who addressed the media after meeting the victim's parents, said: “It is an inhumane act. It has to be condemned and the way the Chief Minister has reacted, it is provoking. They are trying to influence the police investigation and dilute the case. As per the request of family members, I have demanded a CBI probe. We will demand that the government hand over the case (to the probe agency).”
Former CM B S Yediyurappa said, “The State government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it (the incident) seriously. They must take further action.” BJP MP Tejasvi Surya posted on X, “While CM Siddaramaiah and his friends are continuing their unblemished track record of appeasement, BJP stands with victims' families & fights for their justice.”
BJP MP Annasaheb Jolle held a press conference in Chikkodi and said the “gruesome murder of Neha Hiremath is a black spot on the entire state”. “There is no guarantee that this government, which has not been able to give justice to the daughter of a Congress corporator, will protect millions of Kannadigas,” he said.
Boththecongressandthebjp are looking at the ramifications of the incident on the polls, especially in north Karnataka where the incident happened. A Congress leader in Bengaluru said the incident may have some impact in the northern part of the state but not in the south. “The BJP is making its best efforts to influence the public over the issue. We need to see how it unfolds by Tuesday,” the leader said.
State BJP spokesperson M G Mahesh said they are not making the murder a political issue but it has exposed the “dual face of the Congress”. The people are watching this. It has exposed that for the Congress appeasement politics is more important than law and order in the state. The Chief Minister himself denying love jihad before the investigation report has sent a message to the police officers about the government's stand,” he said.