Watch: Shivraj Singh Chouhan caught on camera slapping a 'bodyguard' during rally in Madhya Pradesh's Sardarpur

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan landed himself in a controversy as an undated video clip of him slapping a person, reportedly his bodyguard, surfaced on Tuesday. The incident reportedly took place during a rally in Sardarpur. However, there was no clarity on when the video was shot.

News reports said that it was also not clear why Chouhan resorted to violence. Times Now further reported that Chouhan was campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh civic body polls, which are scheduled to take place on 17 January. The counting of votes will take place on 20 January. This is not the first time Chouhan was seen exercising his power in a controversial way. In August 2016, when visiting flood-affected areas in Madhya Pradesh, an image posted by ANI went viral on the internet. In that image, Chouhan was seen being carried around in flooded areas by security personnel while everyone else around him was walking around on their own.

In November this year, Chouhan — who came under fire from political rivals and netizens recently for claiming that roads in MP are better than those in the US — had also said that the state is "far better" than several countries including America and England.

"Our Madhya Pradesh is far better than America, England, and some other countries. It is important to have positive thinking to see it. It is necessary to have a sense of pride in your state. People with slave mentality can believe that other countries are better than their own," he had said.

Chouhan had drawn flak for remarks he made in the US recently that roads in Madhya Pradesh were better than those in America.

"When I got down at the Washington Airport and travelled on the road (on way to the city), I felt the roads in Madhya Pradesh are better than the United States...I am saying this not just for the sake of saying," Chouhan had told a business roundtable hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the India-US Strategic Partnership Forum in the US capital on 24 October.

With inputs from PTI