Union Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Thiruvanathapuram seat Rajeev Chandrasekhar has sent a legal notice to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for making defamatory allegations against him on a TV channel recently.
The federal minister will be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against Tharoor and Communist Party of India (CPI) politician Pannyan Raveendran.
In the legal notice, the BJP candidate alleged that Tharoor's statements were made with the intention to malign his reputation and his remarks were also disrespectful to the entire Christian community as the Congress MP had accused the entire community of Thiruvananthapuram and its leaders of being involved in cash-for-votes activities.
He also mentioned in the notice that Tharoor had violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and that his statements would hamper the election campaign.
The legal notice demands "immediate retraction" of all allegations made by Tharoor against Chandrasekhar by April 6, and an unconditional public apology to him in print and electronic media, to "cease, desist and refrain from defaming, harassing and maligning" the minister in future.
Through the notice, Chandrasekhar has warned Tharoor that if he fails to comply with the conditions within 24 hours of the notice, appropriate criminal and civil proceedings would be initiated in a competent court.