A day after Delhi Minister Atishi alleged that the BJP had invited her to join its ranks "through a message" conveyed to her by someone, the BJP sent a legal notice to the Kalkaji AAP MLA, accusing her of defamation, and demanded a public apology.

On Tuesday, Atishi had alleged she was given an offer to join the BJP, and threatened with arrest if she refused, through "a close associate".

Addressing a press conference on the issue Wednesday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Delhi BJP chief spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor had sent a legal notice to her in this regard. "Baseless allegations are habitually made by Ms Atishi. A false, self-fabricated statement was given by her. No concrete or accurate information was provided," Sachdeva said.

The Delhi BJP chief said she had not disclosed crucial details to support her allegations such as who contacted her, when the contact was made, whether the person who contacted her was a close acquaintance, who they were, and on whose instructions the conversation took place. "Whenever Ms Atishi or her party are cornered in political circumstances, they narrate stories of breaking laws or arrests of leaders. This has been done twice recently, but no evidence has been provided," he said as reported by PTI.

Sachdeva said the notice urged her to retract the accusations publicly, adding, if she failed to apologise promptly, a defamation case against her for "the humiliation of BJP and its workers will be filed immediately".

Reacting to the development, Atishi said the BJP should fight with the AAP in elections rather than attacking its leaders "through such means".

On Tuesday, in addition to accusing the BJP of having approached her, Atishi had said she apprehended impending Enforcement Directorate raids on her home and residences of her relatives. She said the BJP "plans to arrest four more AAP leaders", which include - besides herself - senior leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and Raghav Chadha, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.