Sandeep Dikshit to file defamation suit against Patra if apology is not given

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Thursday, December 7, threatened to file a defamation suit against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra for suggesting that he was sacked and then taken back by the grand old party.

Dikshit said he has asked his lawyer to send a notice to Patra saying if he does not apologise and retract his statement within 24 hours, he will be left with no option, but to file a defamation suit against the BJP leader.

Patra, while commenting on the opposition party expelling youth Congress leader Aljo K Joseph, said such "drama" has been witnessed before.

A "similar drama" had happened in the case of Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sandeep Dikshit. Leaders are first removed and then brought back and given a promotion, Patra said during a press conference on Thursday.

Dikshit hit back at Patra, saying: "It is a clear lie. I was never suspended or expelled fropm the party." The Congress suspended Aiyar in December last year for his "neech" jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The suspension was revoked in August this year.

It has, however, never taken any disciplinary action against Dikshit and Patra did not specify what he was referring to.