BHOPAL: Canines remained at the centre- stage of politics in Madhya Pradesh Tuesday as well with the ruling Congress sending transfer orders of police sniffers dogs and their handlers issued during the previous BJP government to former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The Congress and opposition BJP are locked in a bitter war of words since Friday last when 46 police dogs and their handlers were transferred by the state government.
The transfer order was issued by the commandant of the 23rd Battalion of the Madhya Pradesh Police.
BJP leaders had mockedthe move, dubbing it as part of a "flourishing transfer racket" under the Congress government which took charge in December last year.
The Congress hit back at the BJP Monday with PWD Minister Sajjan Singh Verma saying the saffron party had a "dog-like mentality".
On Tuesday, Congress leaders came out with the transfer orders of police dogs and their handlers issued during the erstwhile Chouhan-led BJP government.
They sent the orders to Chouhan, who is now BJP vice- president. He was chief minister from 2005 to 2018.
"On 63 occasions, police dogs and their handlers were transferred under the BJP regime headed by Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh."
We have delivered all these orders to Chouhans staff at his residence today (Tuesday), said Congress Media Cell Coordinator Narendra Saluja.
After Fridays transfer order, MLA and state BJP vice- president Rameshwar Sharma had tweeted, "If it will be in their control, the Congress can even transfer the land and the sky."
He had further said, "The Congress can do miracles. It transferred dogs. The Kamal Nath government transferred about 50,000 officials and employees in six months. Some of the officials were transferred 3-4 times in this period. A transfer racket is flourishing and posts in government offices are being sold."
After the BJPs barb over the transfer of police sniffer dogs, Congress minister Verma had slammed the saffron outfit.
"Can anyone harbour an enmity against an animal? BJP people said dogs have been transferred. It should have been better had they said that dog squad has been transferred.
"This is their mentality, like a dog. So we can't help it," Verma had said at a press conference at Jhabua.
Responding to Vermas statement, state BJP chief spokesman Dipak Vijayvargiya had urged Chief Minister Kamal Nath to take a serious note of the "unparliamentary" language used by his Cabinet colleague.
"This is unbecoming of a minister. They (Congress government) have gone so far in the transfer business that they don't know where to stop. They have gone wild, Vijayvargiya had said.