Bhopal, Mar 7 (PTI) Following the row over the BJP's alleged attempt to topple the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, the two parties on Saturday indulged in a `letter war'.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in an open letter, prayed that Lord Hanuman may give "dignity and character" to the BJP.

State BJP president V D Sharma, in turn, also wrote a letter, saying political instability had made Nath nervous, for which his close lieutenants were responsible.

In an open letter to the people of the state, Nath said the BJP leaders should not show their hunger for power in such a way that people lose their trust in democracy.

Accusing BJP leaders of tarnishing the state's glorious history and rich heritage, Nath said, "State BJP leaders have not only tried to destabilise the government, but they have directly attacked the development of the state."

Referring to his government's welfare works and the action against mafia in various fields, he asked, "Are these people (those involved in `poaching' of Congress MLAs) inspired by the mafia whom I want to root out?

"I am confident that all my MLAs are standing firmly with the government and committed to the development of the state," he said.

Sharma, in his letter, alleged that sand and liquor mafia were dominating the Congress government.

He also asked Nath to clarify his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, and accused him of misusing the government machinery to harass political opponents.

"You (Nath) are raising a question about the character of your own party MLAs who have already denied any poaching attempt (by the BJP).

"The BJP will continue to oppose the state government's "anti-people polices", he said.

"Before leveling charges of greed of power at us, you (Nath) should explain what kind of tricks you adopted to run a minority government," the BJP leader further said.

Earlier this week the Congress had claimed that the BJP had "abducted" 14 MLAs to bring down the government in Madhya Pradesh, an allegation which the opposition party denied.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)