BJPCongress rivalry takes a legal turn in Thiruvananthapuram constituency

The electoral fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress has taken a legal turn in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

Union Minister of State for Information Technology and BJP’s candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar has slapped a legal notice on his Congress rival, Shashi Tharoor, accusing the latter of slander. In the notice, Mr. Chandrasekhar accused Mr. Tharoor of making false and defamatory statements against him. He alleged that Mr. Tharoor sought to tarnish his reputation to gain an unfair advantage in the elections.

Bribery charge

Mr. Chandrasekhar alleged that Mr. Tharoor had accused him of bribing influencers and opinion leaders, including clergy members, to get votes. He alleged that Mr. Tharoor’s “statement about parishioners and priests” was equivalent to denigrating the Church. Mr. Chandrasekhar said Mr. Tharoor had aired the false accusations in an interview with a mainstream Malayalam television channel.

He demanded that Mr. Tharoor withdraw the “reckless” statements, issue a public apology, or face legal action. He said Mr. Tharoor should ensure that the apology was aired on mainstream media and published in print to the complainant’s satisfaction.

Mr. Chandrasekhar also demanded that Mr. Tharoor “immediately cease, refrain and desist from defaming, harassing, hampering the reputation of Our Client and spreading any uncalledfor rumour and stop indulging in any such activities in the future.” He demanded that Mr. Tharoor desist from using social media to propagate slander.

Mr. Tharoor’s campaign was yet to respond to the Mr. Chandrasekhar’s legal challenge.