BJP slams govt for inaction against Cong MLA’s son who abused woman officer

Bengaluru:

Mounting a fierce attack against the state government in the wake of a woman government official filing a police complaint against Bhadravathi’s Congress MLA B K Sangamesh’s son Basavesh, who allegedly abused and threatened the former, the BJP on Tuesday demanded the immediate arrest of the legislator’s son.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Council Chalavadi T Narayanaswamy questioned the government’s failure to take action against Basavesh despite the overwhelming evidence against him – a video clip wherein he is seen hurling abuse and threatening the woman officer has gone viral on social media.

Expressing concern over the impact that the state’s inaction would have on the morale of government officers toiling at the grassroots, Chalavadi added, “Is this the Congress party’s way of showing respect to women who stand against corruption and misgovernance?”

Chalavadi said that not just women, even women who are part of the government machinery, were not safe under the Congress.

Chalavadi’s counterpart in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, meanwhile, lauded the government official for recording the entire exchange on her phone.

Claiming that Congress MLAs seemed to have no resources at their disposal, Ashoka alleged that they were resorting to make money either by taking money for transfers of government officials, or supporting the sand mafia.

Pointing to the rise in crimes with links to the sand mafia since the Congress came to power, Ashoka added, “A police constable was mowed down by a vehicle that was illegally transporting sand in Kalaburagi, while a police sub-inspector ended his life, citing the humiliation he suffered from an MLA and his son in Yadgir district. This is in addition to the suicide of an official at the Valmiki corporation. These incidents show that the government is forcing officials to support one mafia or the other.”

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra echoed Chalavadi’s concerns over the government’s inaction on the incident. “The kind of language used by the MLA’s son to a woman officer is an indication that Bhadravathi is in the grip of goondas,” Vijayendra wrote on ‘X’.

Pointing out that the Congress government had been willing to break protocol and conventions to hastily register a complaint against BJP MLC C T Ravi for his alleged remarks against Woman and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, Vijayendra said, “But the Karnataka Women’s Commission is silent on this issue, despite the MLA’s son behaving like Dushasana from the Mahabharata.”