Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday slammed the BJP-led government in Gujarat over the “alarming rates” of suicides in the state and called it “misgovernance”.

He also urged the state government to take immediate steps to address this issue.

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In a statement, Kharge said, “It is with grave concern and profound disappointment that I address the distressing revelation brought to light by the Gujarat government regarding the shockingly high suicide rates. The latest data presented in the State Assembly underscores a harrowing reality. Under the rule of the BJP government, more than 25,000 lives have been lost to the scourge of suicide over the past three financial years, with nearly 500 of them being students.”

He asserted that the statistics laid bare by the state government paint a grim picture of a populace grappling with despair, hopelessness, and unaddressed grievances.

“In a state that boasts of progress and prosperity, it is unconscionable that so many citizens have felt compelled to take their own lives. This is another example of the BJP’s ‘double-engine’ misgovernance that has already inflicted several anyays (injustice) on the country,” Kharge said.

The State and Central government have failed to fulfill their promises of releasing and filling job vacancies and creating new job opportunities, he alleged.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, “The Prime Minister’s silence on this grave human tragedy in his home state is deafening.”

Attacking Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the Congress chief said, “Even Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s acknowledgement of this crisis, while condemnable, falls short of addressing the fundamental failures of governance and the dire need for concrete action to stem the tide of preventable tragedies.”

“It is abundantly clear that the current administration has failed in its duty to safeguard the well-being of our citizens and address the root causes behind the escalating suicide rates. The fact that the maximum number of cases emanates from cities like Ahmedabad (3,280), Surat (2,862), and Rajkot (1,287) is a damning indictment of the government’s inability to provide adequate support and resources to the vulnerable,” he said.

Kharge called upon the Gujarat government to prioritize the well-being and safety of its citizens above all else, and to take immediate and decisive action to address the escalating suicide rates that have cast a dark shadow over our state.