India, July 14 -- Over the past week, the political arena in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed charges and counter-charges on the issue of poaching of ruling National Conference (NC) MLAs even as the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has heightened the pitch for demanding statehood to Jammu and Kahmir. As Omar Abdullah vowed to take protest to Delhi for the demand of statehood to the UnionTerritory, he also accused the BJP of trying to lure NC legislators in a bid to topple his government. Reacting swiftly and terming the charges false, the BJP sent a legal notice to the chief minister. Abdullah on Monday said he feels honoured to have received a "love letter" in the form of a legal notice from the BJP as it proves that he is a political force they cannot ignore. Also Read - Ahmedabad blasts: HC cites scale of terror, conspiracy to uphold death penalty for 38 IM operatives The BJP's Jammu and Kashmir unit served a legal notice to Abdullah over his claim that the party had attempted to bribe NC legislators with cash and ministerial berths in a bid to topple his government. "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 told reporters at the National Conference (NC) headquarters here. Also Read - CM Sukhu: Shongtong-Karchham project to be commissioned by Mar-April 2027 He was responding to a question about the BJP's legal notice to him, threatening a Rs 100 crore defamation suit if he fails to prove the allegations of MLA poaching or issue a public apology. Abdullah said he was expecting a political response from the BJP since he had made a political statement; however, they chose the legal route. "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 hid 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," he said. Also Read - Gujarat: Three children die of Chandipura virus in latest outbreak Abdullah noted that several BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir have made slanderous accusations against the NC and its leadership over the past few months. The BJP asserted that the allegations amount to defamation under both civil and criminal law and calls upon the chief minister to withdraw his charges in writing and demands an unconditional public apology. The party has termed the allegations of MLA poaching "false, baseless and defamatory". Omar Abdullah, while addressing 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. Also Read - Flight carrying bodies of 15 Indians killed lands at Mumbai airport He announced on Sunday that the NC would launch a fresh phase of its campaign for the restoration of statehood, with a protest in New Delhi on July 20 after what he described as nearly two years of waiting for the Centre to fulfil its promise. Addressing a large public rally at Maharaja Hari Singh Park in Jammu city, Abdullah said the party had exhausted its patience and would now intensify its movement by taking the demand directly to the national capital. "Enough is enough! There will be no more waiting!" Abdullah declared before a large gathering of party workers. The rally came a day after the NC held a workers' convention at the mausoleum of Abdullah's grandparents in the Hazratbal area to mark the 26th death anniversary of his grandmother, Akbar Jehan. with agency inputs
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.