The politics of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has heated up over CM Omar Abdullah's accusations of 'Operation Lotus' against the BJP. In a fresh development, the J&K BJP, the prime opposition party, has served a legal notice to Abdullah, asking him to prove his allegations or issue a public apology, failing which would trigger a Rs 100 crore defamation.
Reacting to the notice, the J&K CM referred to the notice as a 'love letter' and told the reporters at the National Conference headquarters that he considers this a great honour.
He said, "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".
"It is symbolic of the way the BJP fights. They take political fights and hide behind the courts," Abdullah quipped.
"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," Abdullah added.
Abdullah further said that from now on he would also resort to sending legal notices instead of dealing politically with 'one leader', whom he claimed has time and again levelled unfounded and slanderous allegations against the NC.
Abdullah accuses BJP of luring NC MLAs with Rs 20-30 cr offer
The political storm was ignited after Abdullah on Saturday said that the BJP was attempting to topple his government by engineering defection. He further alleged that the saffron party, which is the prime opposition party in the UT, has offered NC MLAs money worth Rs 20-30 crores, ministerial berths and even the promise of statehood in exchange for switching sides.
Abdullah said this while addressing a workers' convention at the mausoleum of his grandparents at Hazratbal in Srinagar.