BJP leader serves defamation notice on TMC MPs

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh has served legal notices on Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee for making defamatory statements.

Singh has also sought an unconditional apology from Kalyan Banerjee, the Lok Sabha member from Sreerampore, and Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, both of whom had made disparaging remarks about late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri -Singh's grandfather.

"Your comments have been made purposefully with an intention to cause an imputation to Lal Bahadur Shastri. Your actions have caused hurt and distress to the entire Shastri family of which Singh is a member," reads the notice dated Jan 10.

Though Kalyan Banerjee had apologised for the comments he made in December during a party rally in his constituency, Singh in the notice called the apology a "mockery" as it was made with "no intention to apologise".

"You are called upon to render an unconditional apology and pay our client (Singh) a sum of Rs. 10 crore each within two weeks from the date of issuance of this notice and have it published in all leading newspapers," reads the notice.

Singh has threatened to initiate civil and criminal proceedings against the Trinamool MPs if they failed to tender an apology and pay the money.