Srinagar, July 13: The BJP has given Chief Minister Omar Abdullah seven days to tender an unconditional public apology for his poaching allegations against the party, failing which it will initiate civil and criminal defamation proceedings.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Sat Sharma said a legal notice had been served to CM Omar Abdullah through party advocates. “If he does not apologise, we have instructed our lawyers to take all possible legal action. We will not back down,” Sharma Kashmir Convener.
The notice warns of a damages suit if the Chief Minister does not respond within the stipulated time.
The development comes two days after Omar Abdullah, addressing a party convention in Srinagar, claimed that a BJP functionary — also a Supreme Court lawyer — had approached an NC MLA with offers of Rs 20-30 crore, a ministerial berth and statehood restoration in exchange for switching sides.
“Allah is witness that one of my Jammu MLAs came and told me about it,” Abdullah had said, asserting that no NC legislator would “sell his faith”.
Sharma challenged the Chief Minister to either name the individual or withdraw his statement. “A person holding the office of Chief Minister should make allegations responsibly. If he cannot provide proof, he should apologise,” he said.
The BJP leader also questioned the NC’s demand for early statehood restoration, pointing to assurances given by the Prime Minister and Home Minister that it would be addressed at an “appropriate time”.
“Are the conditions of the state appropriate today? Do they feel that the conditions are appropriate?” Sharma asked, referring to the recent security situation.
He also accused the Abdullah government of “hiding” its governance failures and demanded a white paper on its performance over the last two months. “They are only worried about a 12% budget. They have an 88% budget. Publish your white paper,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh also demanded a sedition case against CM Omar Abdullah, accusing him of “anti-national activities” for invoking a foreign leader on the statehood issue.
“Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Any attempt to internationalise an internal matter is unacceptable,” Chugh told reporters.
Chugh asserted that restoration of statehood, if any, would be decided “strictly within the constitutional framework” and at an “appropriate time”. He accused the National Conference leadership of diverting attention from “governance failures” by creating “unnecessary controversies”.
“The Modi government will not tolerate any attempt to get validation from external forces,” Chugh said, referring to Abdullah’s social media post featuring former US President Donald Trump.
Chugh also dismissed Abdullah’s allegations regarding his own party legislators, saying they reflected “lack of confidence in his leadership.”
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