Democratic Azad Party founder Ghulam Nabi Azad has sent a defamation notice of Rs 2 crore to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh for allegedly calling him a slave and traitor, reported PTI.

Last month, when the Congress leader was touring Jammu and Kashmir as part of Bharat Jodo Yatra, Ramesh had rebuked Ghulam and his new political party.

“I have no idea what Azad’s plans are,” Ramesh had told PTI. “I never imagined in my wildest dreams that he would actually abandon the Congress. It is the party that gave him identity for almost 50 years, gave him every conceivable position in the party and in the government, including chief minister, Union minister, leader of opposition, but I never thought he would be Mir Jafar, never.”

Azad had resigned from the Congress on August 26 citing change in status quo within party leadership due to Rahul Gandhi’s interference. “All senior and experienced leaders were sidelined and new coterie of inexperienced sycophants started running the affairs of the party,” he had said in his resignation letter.

Ramesh had also compared Azad to the 18th century army commander who served Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and betrayed him during the Battle of Plassey, paving the way for British rule in India.

In another statement on January 16, Ramesh had described Azad’s Democratic Azad Party as “Disappearing Azad Party” after members from the Kashmiri politician’s new political party returned to Congress.

The notice sent on Friday alleged that the imputation and defamatory aspersions made against Azad in press statements were based purely on malice, and have caused the senior politician mental agonies, torture, harassment and tarnished his image, reported PTI.

The notice also alleged that Ramesh deliberately used the name Ghulam to imply the meaning slave, which it translates to in Urdu, to defame the leader in the public.

Azad has sought an unconditional apology from Ramesh through print-electronic media and on social media or through any sort of communication, within two weeks from the date of receipt of the legal notice.