Congress Downplays Dikshit's Legal Notice to Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit sent a legal notice to activist Arvind Kejriwal for his "derogatory remarks" against her. The Congress, however, downplayed the development.

Kejriwal earlier responded by saying that he would continue to target the Congress leader over "anti-people" actions of her government.

The legal notice was sent to Kejriwal by Pawan Khera, political secretary to the chief minister, for civil and criminal defamation and called upon the India Against Corruption (IAC) activist to immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions he made against the chief minister.

"If the (chief minister's) secretary has given a notice, it is better to ask him. He is not a Congress member. He has to answer this, not the party," Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit, Sheila Dikshit's son, told reporters.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman slammed Sheila Dikshit over the legal notice, saying that the Congress did not want to give answers to the issues raised. "It is typical DNA of the Congress. (They) won't answer," Sitharaman said.

In his statement, Khera said that legal action has been initiated due to "derogatory remarks by Kejriwal meant to maliciously defame the chief minister and thus all those working in close proximity to her. A case in point being use of the word 'dalaal' (broker) for the chief minister in a talk show recently".

The notice, sent through advocate Mehmood Pracha, gave Kejriwal two days to comply with it. It asked Kejriwal to "immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions" against Dikshit which had defamed her and her office "in the talk show at least on three prominent TV channels and newspapers in equal, if not more, prominence than the original defamatory content".

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit sent a legal notice to activist Arvind Kejriwal for his "derogatory remarks" against her. The Congress, however, downplayed the development.

Kejriwal earlier responded by saying that he would continue to target the Congress leader over "anti-people" actions of her government.

The legal notice was sent to Kejriwal by Pawan Khera, political secretary to the chief minister, for civil and criminal defamation and called upon the India Against Corruption (IAC) activist to immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions he made against the chief minister.

"If the (chief minister's) secretary has given a notice, it is better to ask him. He is not a Congress member. He has to answer this, not the party," Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit, Sheila Dikshit's son, told reporters.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman slammed Sheila Dikshit over the legal notice, saying that the Congress did not want to give answers to the issues raised. "It is typical DNA of the Congress. (They) won't answer," Sitharaman said.

In his statement, Khera said that legal action has been initiated due to "derogatory remarks by Kejriwal meant to maliciously defame the chief minister and thus all those working in close proximity to her. A case in point being use of the word 'dalaal' (broker) for the chief minister in a talk show recently".

The notice, sent through advocate Mehmood Pracha, gave Kejriwal two days to comply with it. It asked Kejriwal to "immediately withdraw all the allegations and aspersions" against Dikshit which had defamed her and her office "in the talk show at least on three prominent TV channels and newspapers in equal, if not more, prominence than the original defamatory content".