Jaipur, Mar 28 (PTI) A day after the BJP said it sent Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a train ticket to meet women crime victims in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot offered to send Union Home Minister Amit Shah a chartered plane to visit the state.

Gehlot tweeted that he wanted Shah to see the law and order-related innovations made in Rajasthan and how well the state is fighting crime.

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The tit for tat was over the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by the son of a ruling Congress MLA.

BJP state secretary Jitendra Gothwal on Sunday challenged Gandhi to come to Jaipur, tweeting that he has sent her a train ticket and also reminding the Congress general secretary of her "Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon" campaign.

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A day later, Gehlot responded by saying, "BJP leaders repeatedly invite Priyanka Gandhi over (the situation of) crimes in Rajasthan even though she does not hold any constitutional post."

"We want to send Union Home Minister Amit Shah a chartered plane and request him to come to Rajasthan to see the law and order-related innovations made in the state and the strict action taken against crimes so that the confusion being spread by his party is cleared," the chief minister tweeted in Hindi.

The opposition BJP on Sunday demanded the arrest of Congress MLA Johari Lal Meena's son Deepak Meena accused of raping the minor, with Gothwal even asking Gandhi to visit the state.

"Congress MLA's son has raped a minor in Rajasthan. The minor girl is not able to fight against the power of the MLA. @priyankagandhi ji, I am sending a train ticket for you. Come to Jaipur immediately. 'There are girls in Rajasthan too and they are not able to fight'," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Gandhi had come out with the poll slogan "Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I am a girl and can fight)" ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Gehlot said the law and order situation in Rajasthan is better than in BJP-ruled states. In the three years of the Congress government, there have been convictions in 620 cases under the POCSO Act. Of these, seven people were sentenced to death and 137 awarded life imprisonment.

"We do not do politics on crimes like the BJP," he said.

Sharing NCRB data, Gehlot said, "Despite the lockdown in 2020, when crime across the country increased by 28.03 per cent compared to the previous year, Rajasthan saw a decrease of 14.46 per cent. According to the NCRB data, there has been a decrease in all types of crimes, including dacoity, robbery, kidnapping, rape, rioting, burglary and theft, in the state in 2020."

He claimed there was a 62.29 per cent increase in crime in Amit Shah's home state Gujarat.

"In the year 2021 also, there was a decrease of 4.77 per cent in crimes in Rajasthan as compared to 2019," Gehlot said.

He said the state government has made FIR registration mandatory.

"While implementing the mandatory FIR registration policy, we knew that crime figures would increase, and the opposition and media would question it, but we implemented this policy to get justice for every victim," he said.

Gehlot further said he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Shah, urging them that the mandatory FIR registration policy be implemented in the entire country.

Deepak Meena and four other people have been booked for allegedly raping the minor girl in February 2021. The case was registered on Friday on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl's family.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)