Shrikant Sharma’s defamation notice to UPCC president

The ongoing war of words between the opposition and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh over the Rs 2,600-crore power employees’ EPF scam took a new twist on Thursday when Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma served a defamation notice on UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu over his reported statement against him on his alleged link with the DHFL.

The minister, in his three-page notice sent to the UP Congress president, charged that Ajay Kumar Lallu’s statement against the minister was an effort to malign his image and linked him with the terror organisations led by Dawood Ibrahim and Iqbal Mirchi.

The minister has asked the UP Congress president to tender personal apology for his statement within seven days of receiving the notice.