The Congress and the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh sparred after a video purportedly showing saffron party leader and former minister Gaurishankar Bisen inappropriately touching minor girls at an event was tweeted by the Opposition party.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress posted the video on Thursday night on its official Twitter handle and slammed Bisen, a sitting MLA and also state Backward Classes Commission chairman, for his "shameful" act.
The Opposition party claimed the alleged incident took place at a programme in Balaghat district.
“BJP MLA, former minister and Backward Classes Commission chairman, Gaurishankar Bisen, doing a shameful act with girls,” the Congress said in a post in Hindi accompanying the video.
Strongly refuting the Congress allegation of inappropriate behaviour by the former minister, the BJP castigated the Opposition party for tweeting the video featuring minor girls and warned of legal action.
“These girls are of his granddaughter's age and Bisen is publicly meeting them with affection," state BJP spokesman Narendra Singh Saluja said.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and government spokesperson Narottam Mishra, too, hit out at the Congress for its "despicable mentality".
“It reflects the despicable mentality of the Congress. Just because of dirty politics, they have released a video that actually reflects his (Bisen) affection towards girls. It is shameful the way Congress has shown the video. We are legally examining the issue, especially of disclosing the identity of girls,” Mishra told reporters.