Jammu, 13 July (H.S.): 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.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar