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NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Monday reacted to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s defamation notice against him over his claim that the safforn party was trying to poach National Conference MLAs from the Jammu region.Calling the notice a “love letter”, Abdullah said that he was a “political force that they cannot ignore”.“I have not been issued any summons. I have received a letter from a lawyer. I consider this a great honour because I am the only politician in J&K who has bestowed with this love letter. I am a political force that they cannot ignore. At the same time, I think it is also symbolic of the way the BJP fights. They take political fights and hide behind the courts,” he said.The J&K BJP issued a legal notice to Abdullah over his allegation that the party had tried to lure National Conference MLAs with cash and ministerial positions in an attempt to bring down his government.“God bears witness that one MLA from Jammu told me that a BJP office-bearer, who is also a Supreme Court lawyer, offered him Rs 20-30 crore, a ministry, and statehood after asking him to support them. They think people’s faith is so weak,” Abdullah had said.The legal notice described Omar Abdullah’s allegations as “entirely untrue, malicious and without any factual basis”, claiming they had damaged the BJP’s reputation.It called on the chief minister to withdraw the allegations in writing, issue an unconditional public apology within seven days, refrain from making or sharing any further defamatory statements against the party, and stop repeating the claims.The notice also warned that failure to comply would invite both civil and criminal action, including a defamation suit seeking Rs 100 crore in damages.
