Priyanka Gandhi had called it "shameful" that UP topped the list of states in crimes against women
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was derided as "Twitter wali neta (Twitter politician)" today by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as he dismissed the Congress leader's criticism over crimes against women in the state.
"She is 'Twitter wali neta'. Recently, she went after facilitating her brother's defeat in the Amethi Lok Sabha seat. What she says doesn't matter. What matters is we are taking steps to strengthen law and order," Mr Maurya told news agency ANI.
Stung by the Congress leader's stinging tweet, Mr Maurya also called her a "tutored leader" and insisted that the state government had control over the crime rate and Uttar Pradesh "is safe".
Last night, Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress's general secretary in charge of UP, had called it "shameful" that Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states in crimes against women.
Priyanka Gandhi was in her mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli for a three-day party meet when she urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to act.
"The state is at the top in crime against women. It is shameful and the chief minister must do something about it," she told reporters.
In a tweet later, Ms Vadra said, "The highest number of crimes against women in the country is taking place in UP. More than 56,000 a year and this does not include incidents that are not reported (to police). Is this data not serious enough for the chief minister to take cognisance."
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2017, released on Monday, said the maximum number of crimes against women had been registered in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Maurya said: "Media is giving unnecessary hype to Priyanka Gandhi's tweet."