NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party has sent a legal notice to Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey after he linked Ramshankar alias Tinnu Yadav — one of the eight accused arrested in the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case — with former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.Samajwadi Adhivakta Sabha president Krishna Kanhaiya Pal told news agency PTI that a legal notice for “defamation, character assassination and publication of malicious content” against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been sent to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.“You, noticee (Nishikant Dubey), have shared such defamatory contents/remarks to intentionally cause hatred towards the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav ji, thereby directly inciting hatred against the Samajwadi Party, hence seditious in nature,” the notice reads.Pal demanded that Dubey publish an apology “in favour” of the SP and Akhilesh Yadav within two weeks.The controversy erupted after Dubey alleged a connection between Akhilesh and Tinnu, asking, “Was Tinnu talking to Tipu?”Dubey also reshared an X post by Saravanaprasad Balasubramanian, which said, “The alleged contact between Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav has made the Ram Temple donation theft case even more sensational.”“According to police investigation and mobile call detail record analysis, Tinnu Yadav was reportedly in regular contact with Akhilesh Yadav, speaking with him once or twice almost daily. The records also reportedly show that just one day before his arrest, Tinnu Yadav spoke with Akhilesh Yadav three times over the phone,” the post said.It further claimed that Tinnu Yadav, a tempo driver by profession, had allegedly gained the trust of the Ram Temple authorities by posing as a VHP worker and was entrusted with collecting and counting devotees’ donations.“If these reported phone contacts are accurate, the nature and purpose of this communication deserve a thorough and impartial investigation. Why they were in such frequent contact is a serious question that investigators should examine carefully,” Balasubramanian wrote on X.SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday threatened legal action against Dubey over the social media post on Ramshankar.In an X post, Akhilesh Yadav warned that a police complaint would be filed if Dubey did not immediately delete the “false” post.“Respecting the dignity of Lord Ram, social decorum, civility and parliamentary traditions, we give the BJP MP 10 minutes to delete this false post. Otherwise, an FIR will be lodged against him immediately,” Yadav wrote, tagging Dubey.Reacting to the notice, Dubey said in a post on X in Hindi on Tuesday, “Akhilesh ji, lawyers like this are bringing you into disrepute. If you have been defamed, the legal notice would naturally have to come from you. That is what the law says. I was a member of the committee that drafted this law, so I am informed about it.“What state have you got yourself into? Why don’t you take something? At the very least, take a Vicks tablet.”Pal rebutted Dubey, pointing to Point 13 of the defamation notice: “That after the defamatory, derogatory, offensive and casteist remarks shared by you (noticee) from your verified X account, my image has been lowered in the eyes of the general public.
