BJP condemning person, who condemned rape: Congress

The Congress has criticized the BJP MPs, who attacked Rahul Gandhi for 'Rape in India' remark, saying they were more concerned about the person who raised the issue and not about the issue that has become a problem.

New Delhi: Reacting sharply to BJP MPs' demand for an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his "Rape in India" comment, the Congress on Friday said they are not concerned about the increasing incidents of rape in the country but about the person who raised the issue.

The BJP MPs did not raise any concern over the increasing rape incidents in various parts of the country in Parliament during the winter session and now they are criticizing the person who talked about it, Sharmistha Mukherjee, President, Delhi Mahila Congress said while interacting with the ETV Bharat here.

Union Ministers - Smriti Irani and Arjun Ram Meghwal - had raised the issue of Gandhi terming government's flagship programme Make in India as Rape in India, during an election rally in Jharkhand's Godda district on Thursday, in Lok Sabha on the last day of the on-going winter session of the Parliament, asking for apology and even punishment for the former Congress chief.

"It's extremely strange, she (Smriti Irani) did not raise the issue in Parliament and now she is condemning a person, who condemned rape," the Congress leader said.

"They (the BJP MPs) are not concerned about the increasing incidents of rapes, but they are more concerned about the person (Rahul Gandhi)," she added.

She also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not doing enough to protect women in the country, saying that 91 per cent of Nirbhaya fund, constituted after Nirbhaya rape incident seven years ago to prevent crime against women, was lying unused.

Similarly, she said out of Rs 928 crore, allocated under the union government's much-publicised 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme, only 19 per cent of it has been sent to district headquarters to be spent on it.

"There has been a spate of incidents of crimes against women of brutal gang rapes and murders, but the government is not doing anything about it," she alleged.