Saharanpur, Jun 30 (IANS): UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday took a dig at Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for her criticism of the law and order situation in the state.
Gandhi had questioned whether the state government had surrendered before criminals.
"It is a case of sour grapes. Her party President lost from UP, so sitting in Delhi, Italy or England, they have to comment on something or the other to remain in headlines," the Chief Minister told reporters here.
Yogi Adiytanath was in Saharanpur to take a stock of the law and order situation and review developmental works.
He was apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi, who lost the Amethi to the BJP's Smriti Irani. The Congress, which once had a huge presence in the state, has now been practically eradicated. UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, is the sole Congress lawmaker from the state.
Despite the defeat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been active in the state. Last week, after a video of two prisoners flashing a country-made pistol in Unnao jail was widely shared on social media, the government came under sharp attack.
Referring to the incident, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: "In entire Uttar Pradesh, criminals are roaming around freely, doing whatever they wish. Criminal incidents continue to happen but it has fallen on deaf ears of the BJP government. Has the Uttar Pradesh government surrendered before criminals?"
The UP Police responded to the tweet with data and claimed that it had recorded unprecedented decline in crimes and improvement in the law and order situation.
"UP Police has taken strict action against serious offenders. 9,225 criminals were arrested and 81 were killed in two years. Illegal property worth nearly 200 crore was seized under the National Security Act and there was unprecedented decline in dacoity, murder, loot and kidnappings," the state police tweeted.
"Because of UP Police's effective working, there has been 20 to 35 per cent decline in crimes. All sensational crimes were solved in 48 hours," the police added.