With the Assembly elections in Gujarat less than a fortnight away, political temperatures are hotting up in the state with the main gladiators in the arena fighting to draw blood.
At two separate press conferences held here on Friday, the BJP and the Congress traded charges and countercharges to derive maximum political mileage. The president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Bharatsinh Solanki, son of former Gujarat chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki, cracked down heavily on CM Narendra Modi leveling several allegations pertaining to his ?misrule?.
Solanki, among the Congress frontrunners for the top job in Gujarat, chose to highlight the state?s dismal law and order track record, claiming that the state is notorious for attacks on women in particular. He said that 6,343 cases of crime against women were registered in 2005 whereas 5805 crime were registered in 2002. The number of rape cases registered in 2005 was 384 while abduction cases registered were 916. ?So how is Modi claiming that women are safe in the state?,? he asked.
Similarly, cases of crime against children increased from 572 in 2001 to 836 in 2005. Cases of abduction of children stood at 131 in 2005, while there were only 39 in 2001. Citing statistics from the Bureau of Crime?s records, Solanki said crime in Gujarat had increased by 9.4 % in Gujarat.