The political face-off between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intensified on Monday, fuelled by allegations that the saffron party attempted to bribe National Conference (NC) legislators with cash and ministerial portfolios.
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP served a legal notice to Chief Minister Abdullah over his claim that the BJP “offered ₹20 -30 crore” to at least one NC MLA in an effort to topple his government, news agency PTI reported.
Reacting to the development, CM Abdullah told reporters at the NC headquarters that he considers this “a great honour” and referred to the legal notice as a “love letter”.
These remarks come after the BJP's legal notice to him, threatening a ₹100-crore defamation suit if he fails to prove the allegations of MLA poaching or issue a public apology.
{{/usCountry}}These remarks come after the BJP's legal notice to him, threatening a ₹100-crore defamation suit if he fails to prove the allegations of MLA poaching or issue a public apology.
{{/usCountry}}“I have received a letter from a lawyer, an electronic copy. I consider this a great honour as I am the only politician in Jammu and Kashmir to have been bestowed with a love letter like this by the BJP. I consider it a mark of respect that I am obviously a political force in Jammu and Kashmir that they cannot ignore,” CM Abdullah said.
Abdullah further stated that he was expecting a political response from the BJP since he had made a political statement.
“It is symbolic of the way the BJP fights. They take political fights and hide behind the courts,” he said.
He further argued, “I could have made the same statement and hid behind the assembly. I could have taken advantage of the privileges afforded to me by making the statements in the assembly which cannot be challenged outside the assembly, but I did not.”
Not naming anyone, he added, “Particularly, one leader has time and again levelled unfounded and slanderous allegations against us, but we have been fighting him politically. Going on now, we will begin the process of sending legal notices to that particular BJP leader and a few others and let's see where this process ends.”
What legal notice to CM Abdullah says
The legal notice asserts that the allegations amount to defamation under both civil and criminal law. It calls upon the CM to withdraw his charges in writing.
“Issue an unconditional public apology within seven days of receiving the notice. Refrain from publishing or circulating any further defamatory material concerning the BJP. Immediately cease and desist from making or repeating any such statements,” it said, according to PTI.
Also Read | 'Enough is enough': Omar Abdullah takes J&K statehood campaign to Delhi
NDA ally's response to Omar's charge
Earlier, on Sunday, BJP ally Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) working president Praful Patel refuted claims made by CM Omar Abdullah that the BJP attempted to lure one of the NC MLAs.
“BJP fully respected democratic traditions; the National Conference was the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir, and they had the support of the Congress party. No obstacles were placed in the way of that alliance forming a government there, and this is considered a healthy democratic practice,” Patel told reporters, according to news agency ANI.
“Today, Congress and other parties run governments in many Indian states; any talk or suggestion of suppressing democracy in those places is wrong. The BJP always operates with faith in the democratic process,” he said.