Jyotiraditya Scindia claims Nath used 'dog' slur for him; Congress denies

The campaign for

Assembly bypolls in Madhya Pradesh became more acrimonious on Saturday with BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia claiming that Congress leader Kamal Nath used the epithet "dog" for him.

The Congress denied the allegation, saying that Nath never used the word.

"Kamal Nath came here and called me a dog. Yes, Kamal Nath, I am a dog and the public is my owner. Yes, I am a dog because the dog protects his owner," Scindia said at a rally at Sadora, about 20 km from here.

A video of the speech went viral on social media.

Nath's media coordinator Narendra Saluja told PTI that the former chief minister never used such a word for Scindia or any other leader.

"Kamal Nath never used this word for anybody in his speeches," Saluja said.

Nath had courted controversy recently when he termed minister and BJP candidate Imarti Devi as "item". On Friday, the Election Commission revoked his "star campaigner" status for repeated violations of the model code.

Scindia quit the Congress in March with 22 MLAs loyal to him, which brought down the Nath-led government in the state.

Bypolls to a total of 28 seats in the state will be held on November 3.