New Delhi: AAP MP Sanjay Singh targeted the BJP in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, claiming cases of communal violence have gone up by 94 per cent between 2024 and 2019 “due to incendiary and hate speeches” by the ruling party leaders.
Participating in a debate on the working of the Home Ministry, he said when the whole world was striving to explore the universe and expand new technology, BJP leaders were “digging graves and looking for temples beneath mosques”.
He was referring to the recent violence in Nagpur over the 18th-century grave of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and increasing temple-mosque disputes in the country.
“When the whole world is moving towards development, you are spreading hate in the country,” Singh said and claimed that people in power have been saying that would damage government-protected Mughal-era sites.
“If we compare the cases of communal violence from 2019 to 2024, it shows an increase of 94 per cent. And why is communal violence happening? It is because you (BJP leaders) give inciting speeches. Your people indulge in hateful talks,” Singh said in the Upper House of Parliament.
About infiltration from Bangladesh, the AAP member said the BJP has been in power for the past 11 years and despite that, illegal intrusion into India keeps happening through the International Border in West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam. These intruders end up in Delhi, he claimed.
Taking a jibe at the BJP over its “double-engine” narrative, Singh said though crime is a state subject, if it is BJP-ruled, then the party is doubly answerable and accountable for maintaining law and order.
Citing the National Crime Record Bureau data, the AAP MP claimed criminal activities have gone up in recent years in states that have “double-engine governments”.
BJP leaders often cite “double-engine” governments to refer to the party being in power both in states and the Centre to claim accelerated development in such states.
Presenting data, Singh said BJP-ruled Haryana registered more incidents of crime than Punjab even though it has more population than the AAP-ruled border state.
“In Uttar Pradesh, 6,57,925 cases were registered in 2020, 6,80,082 in 2021 and 7,53,675 cases in 2022,” Singh said, adding similar trends were seen in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi.
He alleged that Delhi has become a den of criminals.
The AAP MP also read out the data on murder cases in cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Surat and Kanpur, showing a rising trend, and said all these places are in the states with double-engine governments.
On the other hand, Kochi in Kerala and Kolkata in West Bengal showed a downward trend, he said, adding, “These data shows the double-engine government has failed to control crime.”
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
