By Sandeep Pouranik

Bhopal, Jul 14 (IANS): The rifts between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government, are continuing to emerge. According to media reports, even during cabinet meetings the ministers are indulging in altercations with one another. However, the ministers have denied any rift between them.

The latest instance of heated exchanges was between Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Arvind Bhadauria. According to media reports, the controversy started over the dress of Forest Minister Vijay Shah who wore a kurta pyjama in such a way that Yashodhara Raje sitting behind him got angry. Arvind Bhadauria taunted Vijay Shah saying, "Shahji you are the king, and she is the Maharaja."

There was a heated exchange between the Sports Minister and the Cooperatives Minister before the arrival of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan who was not present in the meeting during the spat.

Earlier, there was a spat between ministers Pradyuman Singh Tomar and Yashodhara Raje Scindia during a meeting. Scindia had expressed her opinion regarding the working style of Pradyuman Singh which ended in a confrontation. Later, both the ministers denied the controversy when the matter surfaced in the media.

The fight between Tomar and Scindia was taken seriously by the party organization and Tomar was also summoned to the party office.

The Congress has taken a jibe at the spat between the BJP ministers. Congress State unit President Kamal Nath's media coordinator Narendra Saluja said, "Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's aunt is picking up fights with ruling party's ministers in the state. After the spat with BJP minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar, Vijay Shah and Arvind Bhadauria, this is just the beginning of the rift between BJP's old guard and the young brigade leaders."

Political analysts believe that the image of the government gets affected by the controversies that emerge during the meeting of ministers. Similarly, the inconsistencies revealed during the handling of Covid-19 have impacted the image of the government and now with such controversies emerging in the open, it sends a message that the state government is not working properly. The opposition, too, gets an ideal opportunity to attack the ruling party.