The Delhi unit of Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday served a legal notice on Aam Aadmi Party convener and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly making imputations against the party and its top leaders “without any basis”.
The notice, sent on behalf of Delhi BJP office secretary Mahender Gupta, has asked Mr. Kejriwal to tender a public apology for his “false and defamatory” allegations which had lowered the BJP’s image in the society. It has demanded that the AAP convener pay Rs.5 crore towards defamation damages. Mr. Kejriwal had last week accused the BJP of trying to distort electoral rolls in the Capital by getting fake votes added and getting the names of existing voters deleted.
“Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said his party had also filed a complaint against him with the Election Commission for his “baseless allegations”. An AAP spokesperson said the party would respond to the notice in an appropriate manner through the legal process.
However, the decision to serve the legal notice is in contrast with the BJP’s earlier stand. Mr. Upadhyay had on Saturday accused Mr. Kejriwal of trying to remain in the news glare by making baseless allegations against the BJP. “Mr. Kejriwal wants us to take legal action against him, but we are not going to give him any such opportunity,” he had stated.
(With additional reporting by Vishal Kant)
