Will give befitting reply to BJP notice: Cong

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday warned of a befitting reply if and when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sends a legal notice over the alleged theft of the saffron party's online identity, saying that it was "sensationalism and distortion".

Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who also heads the party's legal department, said no such notice had been brought to his attention.

"As of now, no such notice had been brought to my attention. If and when it is received, we will give a befitting reply to such sensationalism and distortion. It is laughable to suggest that Congress should seek to copy the BJP website," Singhvi said.

"Given the electorate's rejection of the BJP and our connectivity and popularity in India, most people believe it should be the other way round," he added.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said Sunday that the party had sent a legal notice to the Congress over "petty theft" of its online identity.

She said that a portal with the party's acronym and no clear ownership identity was diverting users to the Congress website.

She said that the notice was delivered at the Congress office Sep 27, but there had been no official response from the party.

She said a website, www.bjp.com, had come to the notice of the party which was diverting users to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) website automatically.

The BJP website, bjp.org, had been running for over a decade, she said, adding that "ownership of bjp.com was masked" and it links the user to the Congress website.

The BJP spokesperson said the party had sought to find ownership details on the relevant search engines. The details referred to Bharat Journals and Publications and two US telephone numbers, which were linked to an answering machine.

"Technically such an entity should be selling some journals, but the site takes you to the AICC website," Sitharaman said.

"This is deceitful... low-level, pick-pocket type... We apprehend Congress hand," she said, adding that the attempt could also be to say things that are not true of the BJP.