BJP leaders making false allegations to defame Rajasthan: CM Gehlot

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot targeted the opposition BJP, saying its leaders were levelling false allegations to defame Rajasthan. Gehlot on Tuesday said the people of Rajasthan will not tolerate any attempt to defame the state and humiliate Rajasthanis. They will give a befitting reply to the BJP in the coming days, he said. The chief minister's retort after the BJP held a large protest against the Congress government in Rajasthan over issues such as crime against women and recruitment examination question paper leaks near the state secretariat in Jaipur.

The demonstration was held under the BJP's "Nahi Sahega Rajasthan" (Rajasthan will not tolerate) campaign in the run-up to the assembly polls expected to be held in November-December. In a statement, Gehlot said the issues of women in Rajasthan are being addressed properly in a time-bound manner and the police are taking strict action in cases of crime against them.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Gehlot tweeted, "Only to divert attention from the failures in Manipur and other BJP-ruled states, the BJP's state and central leaders are making false allegations to defame Rajasthan." Gehlot said in Delhi as well as BJP-ruled Assam and Haryana, where the police are under the central government's control, are among the top five states in the country in crimes against women in terms of per lakh population.

Maximum rape cases were registered in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh whereas Uttar Pradesh topped in cases of murder, crime against women and kidnapping, Gehlot said, adding that Madhya Pradesh ranks first in the country in terms of rape of minors whereas Rajasthan is on 12th position. "In comparison to 2019, crimes against women have decreased in Rajasthan in 2021 while such crimes increased in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh," he said.

The Rajasthan chief minister said the entire world is witnessing incidents happening with women in Manipur and how ABVP workers and office-bearers were booked in rape cases in Jodhpur. "Despite the policy of compulsory registration of FIRs in Rajasthan, about 5 per cent fewer crimes have been registered in 2021 compared to 2019, while 17 states and union territories including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand registered more crimes," he said.