Jammu

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP on Monday served a legal notice to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his claim that the national party had attempted to bribe National Conference legislators with cash and ministerial berths in a bid to topple his government.

Calling the allegations "false, baseless and defamatory," the BJP has demanded a written retraction and an unconditional public apology within seven days. It has warned that failure to comply will result in civil and criminal proceedings, including a defamation suit seeking Rs 100 crore in damages.

The chief minister, while addressing National Conference (NC) workers at Hazratbal last week, alleged that the BJP is trying to bring down his government by engineering a split in his party. He also claimed that an NC MLA from Jammu told him that he was offered Rs 20-30 crore and a ministerial berth to switch sides to the saffron camp.

The notice has been issued through advocate Parimoksh Seth on the instructions of BJP J-K president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Paul Sharma. It contends that the chief minister's statements have caused serious damage to the reputation and public standing of the BJP and its office-bearers.

A BJP spokesperson informed that the party has sent the notice to the chief minister.

According to the three-page notice, Abdullah alleged that BJP functionaries had approached certain National Conference MLAs from the Jammu region with offers of Rs 20–30 crore, ministerial berths and restoration of statehood in an attempt to persuade them to switch allegiance to the BJP.

It refers to the chief minister's allegation that a senior BJP office-bearer, who is also a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court, allegedly played a role in offering the inducements.

Rejecting the allegations, the BJP has described them as "entirely untrue, malicious and without any factual basis."

The notice states that the allegations were deliberately made to tarnish the party's image and have been widely circulated, thereby causing substantial reputational harm.

The legal notice asserts that the allegations amount to defamation under both civil and criminal law and calls upon the chief minister 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.

The BJP has warned that if the demands are not complied with within the stipulated period, it will initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings before a competent court. These would include a defamation suit seeking damages of Rs 100 crore, apart from other legal remedies available under the law.

Talking to PTI, J&K BJP president defended the party's decision to serve legal notice on Abdullah and said the serious allegations levelled by him were intended to tarnish the image of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"These people repeatedly try to tarnish the image of the BJP and the Prime Minister. Their focus has always been on finding ways to damage the reputation of a leader who is respected across the world...our legal department has issued him a notice. Keeping in mind his stature, the BJP has decided to seek compensation of Rs 100 crore from him. Given the damage he has caused, even this amount cannot truly compensate for the harm done. Through his remarks, he has attempted to tarnish the image of a political party that is today the largest in the world, has been in power for the past 12 years, and has been working in the interest of the country," Sharma said.

He said even in Jammu and Kashmir, significant development has taken place especially over the past two years after the formation of the NC government. "Abdullah himself has stood alongside the Prime Minister at inauguration ceremonies. Yet despite that, he attempted to damage the image of the Prime Minister's political party."

Rejecting the National Conference's invitation to join its proposed statehood protest in Delhi on July 20, Sharma said the BJP had full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurance that Jammu and Kashmir's statehood would be restored at an appropriate time.

"We have faith in the Prime Minister's assurance. If a leader or a Chief Minister does not have faith in what the Prime Minister has said, how can we stop him? He is free to go—we have never said he should not," Sharma said.

Accusing the National Conference of creating conditions that had delayed the restoration of statehood, Sharma alleged, "On one hand, they even invite separatists to join them. If separatism has grown in Jammu and Kashmir, these are the very people responsible for creating that environment. That is also why the restoration of statehood has been delayed."

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Explaining what the Prime Minister meant by an "appropriate time", the BJP leader said Jammu and Kashmir must continue to move towards peace, stability and a conducive atmosphere. "We should all work together to create such an environment so that statehood can be restored," he added.