Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Congress on Thursday (May 8, 2026) sharpened its attack on the Narendra Modi government over women’s safety and rising crime against the vulnerable, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge claiming that 12 years of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule had exposed the “hollowness” of the Centre’s claims on law and order and women’s safety.
In a post on X, Mr Kharge said the government’s narrative on women’s safety was at odds with official figures. Citing the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2024, the Congress chief said crimes against women have increased by 42.6% since 2013. Citing the same data set, it said that crimes against children have increased by 204.6%, atrocities against Dalits by 41.3% and crimes against Adivasis by 446.7%.
Twelve years of Modi’s rule has exposed the hollowness of its claims of “law and order” and “women’s safety” and is bringing the truth before the nation.
As of 2013, according to the NCRB report —
🔺Crimes against women increased by 42.6%.
🔺Crimes against children have… pic.twitter.com/dVqRoVtFaE
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 8, 2026
He said NCRB data pointed out that cyber crime has increased by 1,689% and 10,546 farmers, 52,931 daily wage laborers and 14,488 students died in 2024.
“Twelve years of the Modi government have exposed the hollowness of its claims of law and order and women’s safety,” Mr Kharge said, adding that the “truth” was now in front of the country.
The remarks came at a time when NCRB’s 2024 report noted a rise in cases of juveniles in conflict with the law and crimes against the elderly. A total of 34,878 cases against juveniles were recorded in 2024, an increase of 11.2% from the previous year, while crimes against the elderly increased by 16.9% to 32,602 cases.
Separately, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba accused the BJP of using ‘Beti Bachao’ and ‘Nari Vandan’ only as political slogans while not ensuring justice for women.
Citing NCRB data, Ms Lamba said at a press conference that 42,85,888 cases of crimes against women were registered between 2014 and 2024 during the tenure of the Modi government.
“These are not just statistics, but more than 42 million women and girls fighting for justice,” she said, claiming that annual crimes against women had risen from 3.4 million in 2014 to nearly 4.42 million in 2024.
Ms Lamba said BJP governments were protecting the accused instead of punishing them and referred to cases in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar to accuse the ruling party of protecting influential leaders.
She demanded that the NCRB data on crimes against women be discussed during the monsoon session of Parliament and sought details of the number of victims who got justice and conviction under the POCSO Act.
Published – 08 May 2026 21:35 IST
