Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Thakur on Saturday hit out at the Opposition for their "double standards" on crimes against women. The minister said there must be a discussion on all these matters in Parliament, but the Opposition is not ready to have such debates. He further said the Opposition is busy politicising crimes against women. Anurag Thakur also said everyone in the Opposition should come for a debate in Parliament on Monday with a list of crimes against women in their respective states, wherever their parties are in power.
Anurag Thakur also said a delegation of leaders from the Opposition parties should visit states like Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal to review crimes against women there.
Talking about states under the rule of some Opposition parties like Trinamool Congres in West Bengal, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JDU) in Bihar, and Congress in Rajasthan, he said, "Somes crimes and incidents against women that took place in some states of the country are unfortunate and shameful as law and order is the responsibility of the states." Anurag Thakur also said appropriate actions were not taken in these states even after many incidents against women in the recent past.
Speaking on Rajasthan, he said crimes against women increased in the state under the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. He said that the state now ranks first when it comes to crimes against women in the last five years. The minister also said there were over 1,00,900 cases of crimes against women in the last four years alone.
Anurag Thakur also cited some figures and said over 33,000 women were subjected to sexual harassment in the last four years in Rajasthan. Meanwhile, the minister also said that instead of taking action against the culprits, Ashok Gehlot suspended his minister Rajendra Gudha who expressed concerns about crimes against women. He also criticised Ashok Gehlot about his minister Shanti Dharewal’s controversial comments on crimes against women. Dharewal had earlier said, “Rajasthan is man's state."
He also spoke on West Bengal and said there were more incidents of bombing in the state than ballots in recently concluded Panchayat elections. While hitting out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Anurag Thakur said over 40 TMC goons sexually harassed a woman in West Bengal's Howrah during the panchayat polls. He also mentioned a viral video in which a woman was stripped and thrashed in the Malda district of the state. The minister said crimes against women are increasing in all these states including Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters, he also asked if Ashok Gehlot will resign after several cases of crimes against women or not. He said law and order is state subject and they must take action. Anurag Thakur also asked the opposition will send their delegations to Bengal and Bihar to review crimes against women in those states.