Bengaluru: The woes of ruling Congress do not seem to end in the run-up to next year's elections to the Legislative Assembly with spiraling number of communal incidents constituting a new cause for concern.
According to a written reply provided in Lok Sabha, of the total 300 communal incidents reported across the country, Uttar Pradesh accounted for 60 of them followed by Karnataka at 36. Three persons lost their lives while 93 others were injured in the clashes in Karnataka. On the other hand, BJP ruled states such as Madhya Pradesh (29 ), Rajasthan (27), Bihar (23), Gujarat and Maharashtra accounted for 20 cases each.
Disputing these figures, however, KPCC president and former home minister Dr G Parameshwar, said: "I have my own doubts about these numbers as 36 communal incidents did not take place during my stint as home minister. I want to know the parameters used while placing Karnataka second in the list of communal incidents".
He claimed that no major communal incident was reported during his tenure except for two or three incidents resulting in death of two people. Only stray incidents were reported in coastal district of Dakshina Kannada."During my tenure, I took stock of the law and order situation in each district every day. Our cops were on their toes and nipped in the bud attempts by communal forces to disturb peace and order. I do not know the yardstick followed by the Union government to rank Karnataka second in communal incidents".
The Congress came to power in 2013 with a slogan on protection of minorities' interests and dealing with communal forces with an iron hand.
Karnataka, however, witnessed communal clashes over celebrations of Tipu Sultan jayanti and growing animosity between Hindus and the Non-Hindus in coastal Karnataka. Dakshina Kannada district in particular reported a number of communal clashes over the death of BJP and right wing activists.
