Bengaluru, April 7 (IANS): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday claimed that the law and order in Karnataka has deteriorated due to the appeasement politics of the Congress-led state government.

Speaking to reporters here, the Union Minister said: "When pro-Pakistan slogans are raised in the Karnataka Assembly, there is implicit support which is being extended... wrongdoers, terrorists and perpetrators of terrorism are encouraged."

She also claimed that the Congress government has "recently allotted a prime property belonging to the Animal Husbandry Department in the heart of Bengaluru to a particular community" for appeasing minorities.

The Union Minister further claimed that the Congress has nothing to do with the dignity of women, saying that violence against women is being repeatedly "ignored by the state government".

"The law and order situation is not in place. There is a 73 per cent increase in rape cases... This is not something we would want to see in Karnataka," she said.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the remarks by Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa against BJP's Lok Sabha poll candidate from Davanagare Gayathri Siddheshwara, saying "Such words are absolutely unacceptable. Women and their dignity don't matter to the Congress party."

She also hit out at the Siddaramaiah government over the water crisis in Bengaluru.

The Union Minister said that the Congress government "has halted Rs 20,000 crore worth tenders of all major irrigation projects in the state. Even the projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission were stalled".

Talking about the country's external debts, she said that compared to developed countries or emerging markets, India's debts are "far lesser".