Chennai, March 15 : The BJP on Sunday hit out at the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu, calling it "incompetent, inconsiderate and utterly insensitive" over its handling of sexual assault cases in the poll-bound state.

Comparing the Tamil Nadu government to modern-day Nero, BJP National Spokesperson C.R. Kesavan said, "Nero merrily played the fiddle when Rome was burning, and when brutal sexual assaults and violent attacks are happening in broad daylight on our mothers, daughters and sisters in Tamil Nadu, the DMK government led by M.K. Stalin, who is also the Home Minister, is busy making reels."

He further added that the DMK government has failed to protect the women of Tamil Nadu. "The government has utterly failed the responsibility, and the women in Tamil Nadu do not feel safe or secure. The sexual assaults on women have shaken the conscience of the entire country. This is the pathetic state of affairs in Tamil Nadu," he told IANS.

The BJP leader also accused the opposition leaders from the Congress party and TMC of being hypocrites for not taking a stand on the issue.

He said, "Why are our leaders from the allies of the opposition parties of the DMK, like Congress and TMC, keeping quiet?"

"Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, they write editorials, tweet furious statements and carry badges to Parliament saying that they are highlighting the distress of women in other countries. But when it is happening in Tamil Nadu, why haven't they picked up their phones and spoken to M.K. Stalin to share their worry, concern or anger? This is the hypocrisy of the opposition parties," he said.

Mentioning a recent case where a 17-year-old Class 12 girl student was allegedly found murdered near Kulathur in Thoothukudi district, Kesavan said, "Reports say that if authorities had intervened at the right time, when the parents went to file a complaint about the missing girl, her life could have been saved."

He added, "When the Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi went there with other DMK leaders, they had to face the anger and resentment of the public, so much so that the local people started shouting slogans and almost chased them away."

With Assembly elections around the corner, he said the day is not very far when the people of Tamil Nadu will chase away the DMK government from the state.

/IANS