Bhind Congress candidate sends legal notice to Sahasrabuddhe

BHOPAL: The

Congress candidate from Bhind Lok Sabha seat

,

Devashish Jarariya

(28), who is one of the youngest candidates contesting the general elections, sent a defamation notice to BJP national vice-president and state in-charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Tuesday.

Sahasrabuddhe allegedly made derogatory remarks against Jarariya, which appeared in a local Hindi news daily. In the notice, Jarariya’s advocate claimed that the remarks made by Sahasrabuddhe were intended to “malign the reputation and social status” of the Congress candidate.

The Indore edition of a Hindi daily carried Sahasrabuddhe’s remarks on Tuesday. The BJP leader allegedly said that Jarariya was a member of the group of JNU students who raised anti-national slogans. The legal notice claimed, “That, the above mentioned news was published with an allegation that my client keeps a nexus with people who were indulged in giving anti-national slogans at Jawaharlal Nehru University. You made a vigilant attempt to defame my client stating that the candidate of the Congress party is associated with the group that wants to divide India.”

Jarariya was a member of the BSP till the November 2018 assembly elections. He is presently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in law from Delhi University and got recognized as a SC youth leader after the April 2, 2018 Bharat Bandh to protest the dilution of the Prevention of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act). He joined the Congress just before the assembly elections and has been fielded as party candidate from SC reserved Bhind Lok Sabha seat.

Speaking to TOI, the Congress candidate’s lawyer Vaibhav Asawa said that the notice demanded “an unqualified apology prominently in front of the general public through newspaper/ press conference immediately from the receipt of notice” or else a criminal complaint would be registered under Sections 499 to 501 of the IPC.

Reacting to the notice, state BJP spokesman Hitesh Vajpayee said, “These people are undergoing identity crisis. They are fraudulent politicians who misuse the law of the land. Devashish Jarariya has already sensed his defeat because of what he did during the April 2, 2018 bandh. Violent people can do anything.”