Sajjan Singh Verma attacked the BJP for mocking the Kamal Nath government's order.

A Madhya Pradesh minister kicked off a storm on Monday, saying that the opposition BJP had a "mentality like dogs" for criticising the transfer of 46 police dogs and their handlers last week.

"Yeh unki mansikta hai kutte jaisi aur kya kare (Their mentality is like dogs, what can be done," Sajjan Singh Verma said in response to a question about the BJP mocking the Kamal Nath government's order.

In an order issued on Friday by the commandant of the 23 Battalion of Madhya Pradesh Police, 46 dogs and their handlers were transferred, including eight-year-old sniffer dog Duffy from Chhindwara, Chief Minister Kamal Nath's home district, to his residence in state capital Bhopal.

Two other sniffer dogs, Renu and Sikandar, have also been transferred to the Chief Minister's house from Satna and Hoshangabad.

The move triggered a barrage of attacks from the BJP, which called it a "transfer racket".

State BJP vice president and legislator Rameshwar Sharma tweeted, "If it was in their control, the Congress can even transfer the land and the sky."

He later told news agency PTI 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."

Today, Mr Sharma said, "If Sajjan Singh Verma (Madhya Pradesh minister) is calling us dogs then I would like to tell him that yes we are dogs. We are faithful dogs of the people of Madhya Pradesh and we will keep raising our voices for our people and our security forces."