Srinagar, July 13 :
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jammu and Kashmir, has formally written to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah through post, demanding that he substantiate his allegations of alleged “poaching” by the BJP with credible evidence or issue a public apology.
According to the BJP, the letter seeks proof of Omar Abdullah’s recent claim that the party was attempting to lure legislators by allegedly offering ₹20–30 crore to MLAs. The party has termed the allegations baseless and defamatory.
The BJP warned that if the Chief Minister fails to produce concrete evidence supporting his statements or refuses to apologise publicly, it will initiate a defamation suit seeking damages of ₹100 crore against him.
The controversy stems from remarks made by Omar Abdullah while addressing National Conference workers at the Dargah, where he alleged that the BJP was trying to engineer defections by offering large sums of money to elected representatives.
The BJP maintained that such allegations are serious in nature and cannot be made without proof, asserting that false statements against a political party damage its reputation and undermine democratic discourse.
The party has now asked the Chief Minister to either furnish evidence in support of his claims or withdraw the remarks and apologise, failing which it says legal proceedings will be initiated. (KNC)