Congress mindset is in favour of criminals: Ravi

Tourism Minister C T Ravi has asked the Congress if the families of the people who died in the recent police firing should be recompensed if the deceased were found guilty.

Defending Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s decision, Ravi asked for a clarification if the ongoing investigation found the deceased to have been more than innocent bystanders. The minister addressed a press meet at the BJP office in the city on Thursday.

“The Congress has a mindset favouring criminals. The Congress government in 2014 had released Rs 10 lakh as compensation to cow-lifter Kabir of Jokatte, who had been shot by ANF personnel,” he said and added that the Congress has a clandestine understanding with the SDPI and PFI to destabilise the government.

“The Congress has been disappointed when there was no protest against the decisions on Triple Talaq, revocation of the Article 370 and the apex court’s decision on the Ayodhya dispute. Now, under the pretext of protest against the Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Congress is trying to spread anarchy,” the minister alleged.

He pointed out that destroying public property and going on a rampage was not a democratic way of campaign. “When the Section 144 had been imposed, who ordered the protestors to come down on the streets? Why did they protest? What is the message that the Congress is sending, by siding with people who pelted stones at and damaged public property,” Ravi asked.

He ridiculed the Congress for suspecting the authenticity of the CCTV footage related to the riots. “It is an old habit of the Congress to suspect everything. Even when they lose elections, they suspect the EVMs,” Ravi added.

In response to the allegations of the Congress that the government was communal, the minister countered that the Congress, which had implemented schemes for a community like Shaadi Bhagya, was communal. “We have introduced schemes irrespective of caste and religion - like Ayushman Bharath and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi,” he stressed.

‘Emulate UP policy on public property damage’

Tourism Minister C T Ravi has urged state government to emulate Uttar Pradesh’s policy of recovering the cost of damage to public property from rioters.

“I will even talk to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on this issue,” he said and added, “By implementing the policy, the incidents of those damaging public property and those inciting violence will come down.”