"The opposition parties are interested in keeping the issue alive to defame Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP. Though the (Una) incident was unfortunate, the political parties are fanning it to stop BJP from coming to power in Uttar Pradesh," Rupani said at a event here.
"Figures of cases of atrocities on dalits across the country prove that Gujarat is one of the state where crimes against them are low," he claimed.
"When we compare crime against Dalits during past Congress rule in Gujarat and during the BJP rule, the cases have decreased in BJP regime," he said.
Rupani claimed that the state government had taken "prompt action" in the incident as all the main culprits were arrested the next day.
More From This Section
Seven members of Dalit community from Mota Samadhiyala village of Una tehsil of Gir Somnath district were brutally assaulted by some self-styled cow vigilantes for skinning a cow on July 11.
The incident sparked wide-spread protests after videos of the beating went public. Several political leaders like Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BSP supremo Mayawati had visited the families of the victims.