KOCHI: BJP politician from Kerala Prakash Javadekar slammed the Congress-led UDF in Kerala for remaining silent on the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata despite nationwide outrage.

The former Union minister, who described the crime as “shameful”, alleged that there was “jungle rule” in West Bengal. Accusing the Congress of duplicity, Javadekar said the Congress, which is usually quick to respond to various issues, had remained remarkably quiet on the incident. He said the Left had a similar attitude.

“Before the Lok Sabha elections, they (Congress) always talked about Palestine. The UDF was never condemned when a Hamas leader attended a solidarity rally for Palestine via video conference. But they do not say a word about the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. This is selective amnesia,” he told reporters in Kochi.

Commenting on the recent elections, Javadekar said, “A deepfake video of Amit Shah, created using artificial intelligence, falsely claimed a reservation cut-off and was widely shared. This was followed by a campaign spreading false stories about a leak in the Ram Mandir and problems with the Atal Setu bridge. This is a politics of lies that cannot last.”

Javadekar stressed that the BJP has more ministers from the OBC category while in the Congress even deserving politicians face difficulties in getting promotions in time. However, he did not respond to questions on Blitz magazine’s recent report on Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

On the Central government’s involvement in the Mullaperiyar dam issue, he echoed BJP state president K Surendran’s stance and said, “Rahul Gandhi and Pinarayi are part of the same alliance, so why don’t they discuss this with Stalin and the DMK?”