Kerala political killings: Arun Jaitley’s claim of increased violence in state during Left rule is incorrect

Every time the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is in power in Kerala, there is an increase in violence, Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate affairs, Arun Jaitley, said on Monday during a press conference.

Its a fact that the everytime LDF is in power, the incident of violence increase in Kerala : Shri @arunjaitley

— BJP (@BJP4India) August 6, 2017

We fact-checked his claim and found it incorrect. Between 2006 and 2011, when Kerala was ruled by the LDF,  crimes registered increased 30 percent, from 1,05,255 in 2006 to 1,48,313 in 2010, according to 2015  data, the latest available, from the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB). Over the same period, the crime rate — crimes per 1,00,000 population — increased 35 percent, from 312.5 in 2006 to 424.5 in 2010. Since Jaitley’s  visit was connected with the  murder of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker on 29 July, 2017, we also looked at murder cases registered during this period. Between 2006 and 2011, an average of 365 murder cases were registered each year.

[caption id=“attachment_3899127” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Arun Jaitley. PTI[/caption] Between 2011 and 2016, when Kerala was ruled by UDF, registered crimes increased from 1,72,137 to 2,57,704 in 2015, according to NCRB data. Over this period, the crime rate increased 40 percent, from 515.6 in 2010 to 723.2 in 2015. Between 2011 and 2016, an average of 363 murder cases were registered each year. Overall, registered crimes and the crime rate increased each year over a decade to 2016, but the number of murders registered every year remained largely the same, as the NCRB data show. Jaitley’s claim is wrong and misleading. Kerala has the highest crime rate in the country, which can probably be  attributed to higher reporting, but there is no substantial evidence for Jaitley’s claim.  Many states under-report crime, such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose methods of holding down crime — by not reporting it — were revealed in an IndiaSpend  analysis on 24 May, 2016. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of party workers killed, from the RSS and the Left, in the northern Kerala district of Kannur — a hotbed of such violence — has been roughly equal: 31 from the RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 30 from the Left, according to police  data obtained by _101reporters.com_through a right-to-information request,  FactChecker  reported on 7 March, 2017.