Bhopal, Dec 10 (IANS): A war of words has erupted between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh over Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's letter.

Scindia had purportedly written a letter to Sheopur District Collector for helping a farmer in January. The war of words erupted after MP Congress unit chief Jitu Patwari took a jibe at Scindia while addressing a public gathering in the Vijaypur Assembly seat on Monday.

The seat was won by Congress in the recently held bypoll. While addressing a gathering, Patwari called a senior citizen on stage, took a letter from him and showed it to the audience. The Congress leader claimed that this senior citizen (pointing towards the man on stage) had approached Scindia to seek help to get back his land, which was illegally occupied by some land-grabbers.

Scindia, as per Patwari, wrote this letter on January 8 to the Sheopur District Collector for investigation into the matter. However, no action was taken and the old man is yet to get back his land from goons who illegally grabbed it.

"It's been almost one year since this letter was written but action is awaited. Scindia understood the problem of this helpless senior citizen and wrote to the district collector for action, but nothing happened so far. It means Scindia's letter has no value in the BJP government," Patwari said.

Patwari's jibe at Scindia prompted MP unit BJP chief V. D. Sharma to respond. In a press note issued late on Monday, Sharma hit back at Patwari, alleging that the Congress leader was trying to mislead the people through his false claims.

"Jyotiraditya Scindia is a senior and a respected BJP leader and his family has a strong connection with RSS. Scindia's family has always adopted the path of 'jan seva'. Frustrated with back-to-back defeat in the elections, Congress leaders are making false statements against Scindia," V.D. Sharma responded.

He further stated that Congress has lost its ground in Madhya Pradesh and all over the country, which is why its leaders are making false allegations about the BJP. Sharma said the BJP has fought the Vijaypur bypoll with support from each party worker.

"Congress has made deliberate attempts to mislead people regarding Vijaypur bypoll. BJP fought the Vijaypur bypoll with support from all party workers. We lost Vijaypur bypoll, but the party has secured more votes than previous elections," Sharma said. Notably, following his stunning defeat in Vijaypur, former Minister and BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat had claimed that some senior party leaders conspired to defeat him in the election.