Youth Cong rubbishes BJP’s ‘unsafe Himachal’ remarks

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, September 17

The Himachal Youth Congress has come down heavily on the national chief of the BJP Mahila Morcha for calling Himachal unsafe for women.

The spokesperson of the Himachal Youth Congress for the Kangra parliamentary constituency, Anjali Malhotra, in a press note issued here said the statement of Vijay Rahatkar, the national president of Mahila Morcha of the BJP, was baseless. Himachal had always been safe for women and was known as a peaceful state across the world.

The BJP was trying to politicise the Kotkhai rape-murder case, which was unfortunate. The state government had handed over the case to the CBI. The matter was also being monitored by the High Court and so baseless statements regarding the case should not be made by the BJP leaders.

She said the National Crime Control Bureau records showed that the crime against women had fallen under the present Congress government. In 2014, the number of crime cases against women in Himachal were 1,517 which reduced to 1,311 in 2015.

On other hand, in Maharashtra, which was a BJP-ruled state, the number of crime cases against women had increased. In 2014, the numbers of crime cases against women in Maharashtra were 2,693 in 2014 which increased to 3,154 in 2015.

If the present BJP government was so concerned about women it should explain as to why no national chief of the party was a women. The Congress has a woman as its national president. The Congress had advocated for 33 per cent reservation for women in elected bodies but the BJP had not endorsed it, she said.

Triggering controversy

It is unfortunate that Himachal, which was considered a safe state, is today being considered unsafe for women. Tourism is the main source of livelihood for the people of the state and if visitors start feeling unsafe here, then tourism will take a beating. —Vijay Rahatkar, BJP Mahila Morcha Chief