Kamal Nath sends legal notice to two BJP leaders over allegations of him 'favouring China'

Former Madhya Pradesh CM and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has sent a legal notice to BJP's state unit president VD Sharma and BJP leader Prabhat Jha, claiming that they have "spread patently false and baseless statements" against him. Kamal Nath's counsel said the BJP leaders made allegations that he favoured Chinese firms by reducing import duty when he was a Union Minister.

'Baseless allegations'

Nath's lawyer Varun Tankha said the notices sent on June 30 drew the attention of "defamatory" statements issued by both the BJP leaders against Nath which were widely circulated in various newspapers and also in the electronic media on June 26-27.

Tankha said, "no public record supports any part of these false allegations. Decisions Nath took during his tenure as Union Minister for Commerce and Industry from 2004 to 2009 were as per the norms." During Nath's tenure as Union minister, anti-dumping duty against Chinese companies was higher which goes to suggest he never favoured any Chinese firm or for that matter entity of any country, he said.

"It is a general practice in the Union government that any increase or decrease in tariffs is a concerted effort taken after Cabinet approval and much scrutiny," PTI quoted Tankha as saying. The BJP leaders made baseless allegations about the Chinese firms transferring illegal amounts to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Tankha said adding the accusations of VD Sharma that Nath took money for development works in Chhindwara, the latter's home district is also baseless.

'Kamal Nath is also a friend of China'

Tankha said, "no public record supports any part of these false allegations." The notices said, "the statements (of the two BJP leaders) are purely an offence mechanism to protect your party's (BJP) politically reducing turf in the wake of upcoming by-elections of 24 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh."

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The notices seek a reply from Jha and Sharma within seven days of their receipt failing which Nath will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action.

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Earlier, attacking the Congress party over the 'RGF scam', Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the people of India want to know why did the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation "take money" from China. He also dubbed his predecessor and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath "Kalank Nath" (disgrace), saying he had favoured China by his actions as Union commerce minister in the erstwhile UPA government.

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"Kamal Nath is also a friend of China. When he was commerce and industry minister, he had slashed import duty which had allowed China to dump their goods in India and to loot our country. He is not Kamal Nath, he is 'Kalank' Nath," Chouhan said.

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(With agency inputs)