‘State govt not bothered about anything’: BS Yediyurappa on Hubballi murder

BENGALURU : After the recent Huballi murder case, former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa expressed his concerns about the Congress government’s response, saying, “state government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it seriously.”

“State government is not bothered about anything. They are not taking it seriously. They must take it seriously and take further action,” Yediyurappa told ANI.

The murder of Karnataka college student Neha Hiremath by her former classmate Fayaz has triggered a political row, with BJP terming it a case of ‘love jihad’, while the Congress party has denied the allegation. Demands for capital punishment for Fayaz, the accused, have led to protests across the state.

Speaking on the case, that took place on the college campus Hubli-Dharawad, BJP Karnataka President BY Vijayendra told ANI that, prima facie, it looks like a love jihad case. So rather than getting into the investigation, the CM is trying to protect the culprits.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Former Karnataka CM and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa says, "Wherever you go, 'Modi-Modi' slogans are being raised. According to me, the response is more than what we expected. We are going to win all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies…I ask Congress friends, tell me… pic.twitter.com/1XqT6nUXr9

— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2024

“The present Congress government does not care about anything. Earlier, when a blast took place in Mangalore, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said it was a small stray incident and not a terrorist attack. Later when an investigation was carried out, many people were arrested. As far as the Hubballi- Dharwad incident is concerned, it is very unfortunate on the part of the CM. Instead of coming to the rescue of the family, he says the murder took place due to a personal vendetta. Women across the state are questioning the state government,” he said.

On Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the murder of Congress corporator’s daughter Neha Hiremath in Hubballi is not a case of “love jihad” as alleged by the BJP.

The Chief Minister, while speaking to the media here, hit out at the BJP and accused the party of politicising the murder for politics.

Condemning the incident, the CM said, “This is not a case of love jihad. I condemn the incident. We have arrested the culprit, the investigation is going on seriously and we will punish the culprit. We have taken care of law and order seriously to maintain peace and harmony. BJP is using this issue for politics, it is condemnable that a political party (BJP) is using the murder of a girl for political purposes.”

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed that the case is of ‘love jihad’, but the state government does not want to investigate.

“He (the deceased’s father) is a corporator. For vote bank politics, suppressing and hushing up is their (Congress) policy. This is all happening due to that…There is a ‘love jihad’ but they do not want to investigate that. The father himself is saying that this is being hushed up,” Joshi said on Saturday.

Neha (23), the daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on Thursday. The accused, Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.

Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate. (ANI)