An ‘explosive’ letter, allegedly written by veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi to another senior party leader LK Advani, has surfaced on social media. The letter, written in Hindi on Joshi’s official letterhead, has slammed the current BJP leadership for its questionable functioning. Among other things, the alleged letter by Joshi has also told Advani that their silence will be a betrayal to the ordinary public.

It goes on to say, “When Indira (Gandhi) governed India, you and Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji built the party amidst difficult circumstances. But today, the same values are being thrown out of the window (by the current leadership). You silenced me in the previous meeting, I will silence you in the next, but isn’t it a betrayal to people of the country?”

It further went on to claim that while Advani predicted 120 seats for the BJP, Joshi’s assessment indicated that the BJP will win 150 seats in this year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Many users on Twitter shared the letter with an ANI watermark and termed it ‘explosive.’ Some even declared that this will cause an earthquake in the BJP.

Explosive ! Murli Manohar Joshi's letter creates an earthquake within BJP ranks. #bjplosing#ChowkidarChorHai pic.twitter.com/QCUy6ZsV9H — LIAR MODI (@liar_modi) April 13, 2019

Letter from Dr Murli Manohar Joshi to LK Advani. Says BJP likely to 120-150 seats all-India in current Elections. pic.twitter.com/7nykNktQ7Y — RKHuria #ChowkidarChorHai (@rkhuria) April 14, 2019

Here is the second part of explosive letter from #murlimanoharjoshi to #lkadvani, dated 12 April, 2019 which gives their assessment of how many seats #BJP is going to win: 150 as per Joshi, 120 as per Advani. Rumblings already started after 1st phase of voting! Fingers crossed? pic.twitter.com/r8s1oZJC4U — Rajeev Sharma (@kishkindha) April 14, 2019

After the alleged letter went viral on social media, news agency ANI issued a clarification stating that it was fake. Its tweet read, “Statement: Screenshots of BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi statement on his letter head is circulating on WhatsApp and Twitter with an ANI watermark. No such letter exists. This is fake.”

Statement: Screenshots of BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi statement on his letter head is circulating on WhatsApp and Twitter with an ANI watermark. No such letter exists. This is fake. — ANI (@ANI) April 14, 2019

Both Joshi and Advani were denied Lok Sabha tickets in this year’s elections from Kanpur and Gandhinagar respectively. Advani had launched a veiled attack with a blog against the current BJP leadership days after he was replaced by BJP President Amit Shah as the party’s candidate in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the fake letter by Joshi continues to be widely shared on WhatsApp.