Kurseong BJP MLA B.P. Sharma (Bajgain) on Friday accused the party's Darjeeling MP Raju Bista of harassing him by filing a defamation suit against him in a court in Delhi, while the remarks, which allegedly impugned the reputation of the latter, had been made in the hills.

“A defamation case was filed against me by Darjeeling MP Raju Bista over certain remarks made by me just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections (in 2024),” said Sharma.

The case was first heard on March 10 and then on March 17.

Bista had filed the case at the Rouse Avenue District Court in Delhi over the remarks made by Sharma at a press conference in the Darjeeling Press Guild on April 24, 2024.

“Raju Bista represents Darjeeling. I had made the remarks in Darjeeling, which means the place of occurrence is here. But he chose to drag me to Delhi, which shows that he is only harassing me as I am financially weak,” said the MLA.

The additional chief judicial magistrate’s court of the Rouse Avenue District Court did not take cognisance of the defamation case in an order passed on Wednesday.

“I will not say anything about the case, but his action has shown his intention towards me. I will still reiterate the demand I had raised earlier and will continue to question the MP in this regard,” said Sharma.

The MLA and the MP are not on the best of terms. Sharma had contested against Bista in the last Lok Sabha poll as an Independent.

Bista dragged Sharma to court on a statement made by the MLA during a press conference on the last day of the campaigning for the Darjeeling seat. The MLA raised issues regarding alleged corruption in the rural water distribution scheme in the Darjeeling hills and the role of the MP in curbing the "wrongdoings".

In the election, Sharma secured only 7,447 votes. The total valid votes were around 13.9 lakh. The number of people who pressed the NOTA buttons on EVMs stood at 18,021 votes.

On the other hand, Bista secured 6.79 lakh votes.

Bista could not be contacted on Friday.