Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav has sent a legal notice to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B.K. Hariprasad regarding allegations that Madhav held secret meetings with Pakistani officials in Colombo and London. The notice claims the statements were false, defamatory and malicious, aimed at harming Madhav’s reputation, and demands an unconditional public apology.
Issued under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the notice states that Hariprasad’s remarks damaged Madhav’s public image built over years of service. It warns that failure to withdraw the claims and apologise could lead to civil and criminal proceedings.
The dispute started when Hariprasad told reporters in Bengaluru that Madhav, recently named BJP in-charge for Greater Bengaluru Authority elections, had conducted four confidential meetings with Pakistani officials in Colombo and London. He alleged one meeting occurred at a Hilton Hotel and involved a former Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence major general. Hariprasad questioned who authorised the meetings and called for full disclosure of their purpose.
He noted that India’s Ministry of External Affairs handles diplomacy and said Madhav is neither a minister nor an elected legislator but an RSS functionary. Hariprasad also linked the alleged meetings to the period after Operation Sindoor and claimed RSS leadership may have known about them.
Madhav has denied the allegations, stating he only attended the International Institute for Strategic Studies South Asia Dialogue in Colombo, a public multilateral conference with participants from several countries. He said the event was an open academic discussion, not a secret bilateral meeting, and rejected any suggestion of private talks with Pakistani officials.
The notice asserts that Hariprasad repeated the claims despite public clarifications, causing reputational harm and mental distress. The statements were widely reported across media platforms. The controversy arises ahead of Greater Bengaluru Authority elections, with both parties already engaged in disputes over governance and security issues. Congress has not yet responded officially to the notice.
