- Honoured to Receive BJP’s ‘Love Letter’ in Form of Legal Notice: CM Omar Abdullah
Srinagar, July 13: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday reacted sharply to the legal notice served on him by the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying he felt “honoured” to have received what he described as a “love letter” from the party in the form of a legal communication.
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP served the notice on Abdullah over his allegation that attempts had been made to bribe National Conference legislators with money and ministerial positions in an alleged bid to destabilise his government.
Speaking to reporters at the National Conference headquarters in Srinagar, Abdullah said the legal notice only proved that the BJP considered him a political force in Jammu and Kashmir that it could not ignore.
“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,” Abdullah said.
The Chief Minister was responding to questions regarding the BJP’s legal notice, which reportedly threatened a Rs 100 crore defamation suit if he failed to substantiate his allegations of MLA poaching or issue a public apology.
Abdullah said he had expected the BJP to respond politically to what he described as a political statement. However, he said the party had chosen to take the legal route instead of engaging in a political debate.
He said the BJP’s response reflected its style of politics, alleging that the party often takes political contests into legal spaces rather than facing them in the public arena.
“It is symbolic of the way the BJP fights. They take political fights and hide behind the courts. I could have made the same statement and hidden 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,” Abdullah said.
The Chief Minister maintained that he had deliberately made his remarks outside the Assembly and had not used legislative privilege as a shield. He said if he wished to avoid challenge, he could have raised the matter on the floor of the House, where statements enjoy constitutional protection under Assembly privileges.
Abdullah also accused several BJP leaders in Jammu and Kashmir of repeatedly making serious and allegedly unfounded allegations against the National Conference and its leadership over the past few months. He said the NC had so far chosen to respond politically rather than through legal action.
“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 us see where this process ends,” he said.
The BJP’s notice, according to reports, states that Abdullah’s allegations amount to defamation under civil and criminal law. It has called upon him to withdraw his charges in writing and issue an unconditional public apology within seven days of receiving the notice.
The notice has also asked the Chief Minister to refrain from publishing or circulating any further allegedly defamatory material concerning the BJP and to immediately cease making or repeating such statements.
The development comes amid rising political tension between the National Conference and the BJP, particularly after Abdullah’s recent claim that one of his party MLAs from Jammu was allegedly offered between Rs 20 crore and Rs 30 crore, along with a ministerial berth and a promise linked to restoration of statehood, if he agreed to leave the National Conference.
The BJP has strongly rejected the allegation and has now escalated the matter legally, while Abdullah has indicated that the National Conference may also explore legal options against BJP leaders whom it accuses of making defamatory statements against the party.