Khushbu: Crime against women is less in BJP-ruled states 

The Ram Temple consecration, women's safety, and the BJP government's 10-year-long rule were some of the subjects discussed at the panel comprising actor and politician Khushbu Sundar, MP John Brittas, Congress Spokesperson Prof Gourav Vallabh, and DMK Spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai at the second session of the 12th edition of the ThinkEdu Conclave, 2024, sponsored by SASTRA University. The panellists spoke on the topic, 'Poll Position: Who will win the People's Mandate', and the Editor of The New Indian Express, Santwana Bhattacharya chaired the panel.

As Santwana began the session by asking the speakers to comment on the topic of the hour -- the Ram Temple consecration, Saravanan said, "Definitely, the Ram Temple Consecration was planned for the elections and that's why PM Modi conducted the consecration even before the temple construction was completed." However, Khushbu was quick to rebut saying, "The Tamil Nadu government made sure that the temple consecration doesn't impact the people of the state by banning the live telecast. The Supreme Court had to intervene to make it happen."

Further commenting on the topic, Gourav stated that he supports the consecration as it was carried out as per the Supreme Court verdict. "Now that the Ram Temple is consecrated, it is time for Ram Rajya. But at the moment, the unemployment rate for the age group between 20-24 is 44.5 per cent. Every 51st minute, there’s a crime against a woman in India," he said. This shifted the conversation towards women's safety, and Khushbu went on to say, "As a member of the National Commission for Women, I would like to bring to your notice that most of the complaints we get from women come from the non-BJP states."

Circling back to the Ram Temple consecration, John Brittas said, "We're talking about the Pran Prathishta. I'm happy about giving 'Pran' (soul) to God. But let them also go to Manipur and give them some 'Pran'. A government should not be mixing politics with religion." He further had points regarding how well the BJP government has fared in these 10 years. "In all Southern states the poverty rate is less than 10 per cent, while in Kerala, it is below 1 per cent because we've kept the BJP away from our state."

To this, Khusbu replied by saying, "You are talking about poverty. More than 25 crore people have been lifted from below the poverty line." As the debate was turning heated, Santwana reminded the speakers to wrap up their narratives. As a concluding statement, John said, "To wrap up, I would like to say, let Lord Ram save this nation from Modi."