Atishi, Gambhir in spat over pamphlet, Gautam Gambhir files defamation case NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party candidate for East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Atishi Marlena, alleged on Thursday that BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir and his team have distributed pamphlets which contain extremely obscene and derogatory remarks against her.The pamphlet also targets chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia . The charge evoked a strong reaction from Gambhir, who not only hurled a counter-allegation at Kejriwal but also announced that he would withdraw from the contest if it was proved that this was his handiwork.Addressing a press conference, an emotional Atishi said she was extremely sad to see how politics in the country had fallen so low. "I had welcomed Gautam Gambhir when he was fielded by BJP, and when I met him during nominations, I told him that good people should come to politics because it is good for the country," she said. But the moment she started reading out from the pamphlet, she broke down. After having a glass of water, she resumed reading, but broke down once again.East Delhi DM and returning officer K Mahesh has asked Delhi Police to lodge an FIR in connection with an offensive pamphlet being distributed against AAP candidate Atishi, and start an investigation to find out who distributed the pamphlet.The FIR, he said, will be lodged against unknown persons. Delhi Commission for Women had taken suo motu cognizance of the matter and written to DCP, East, seeking a report.The pamphlet called Atishi a beef eater and an example of mixed breed because, it claimed, her father was a Jat from UP, mother a Punjabi and husband a Christian from Andhra Pradesh. Atishi has clarified in the past that she belongs to a Punjabi Rajput family. The remaining content - much more offensive and abusive - is not worth reproducing. "Never imagined Gautam Gambhir to stoop so low. How can women expect safety if people wid (sic) such mentality are voted in?" Kejriwal had tweeted. In a tweet, Gambhir said: "I declare that if its proven that I did it, I will withdraw my candidature right now. If not, will you (Kejriwal) quit politics?"<doc-sep>Atishi, Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, broke down at a press conference on Thursday where she accused cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir of distributing pamphlets with derogatory remarks against her. Atishi, who was accompanied by Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia during a press conference, broke down as she read out the pamplet in front of reporters. She said she had welcomed Gambhir, a former cricketer, when he entered politics but now the BJP has stooped to an unexpected level. AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he never imagined Gautam Gambhir to stoop so low. “How can women expect safety if people wid such mentality are voted in? Atishi, stay strong. I can imagine how difficult it must be for u. It is precisely this kind of forces we have to fight against,” he tweeted. Watch | AAP’s Atishi breaks down, says Gambhir distributing ‘derogatory pamphlets’ Gautam Gambhir blamed Arvind Kejriwal for the pamphlets and said he will withdraw his candidature if the charges are proven. He dared Kejriwal to quit politics if the charges were found to be wrong. “I abhor your act of outraging a woman’s modesty @ArvindKejriwal and that too your own colleague. And all this for winning elections? U r filth Mr CM and someone needs ur very own jhadu to clean ur dirty mind,” he tweeted. Also read: ‘Negative politics’, says Gautam Gambhir on AAP’s complaint of 2 voter IDs Manish Sisodia said the “language in the pamphlet is so abusive and low that everybody will feel ashamed while reading it.” Atishi has accused Gautam Gambhir of holding two voter identity cards—one from one from Karol Bagh and another from Rajinder Nagar. She has moved a Delhi court claiming a violation of the Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Gambhir has dismissed the charges as “negative politics”.<doc-sep>Lok Sabha Polls: AAP leader Atishi accused BJP's Gautam Gambhir of a derogatory pamphlet attack on her Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir today issued a dramatic challenge to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal. He told the Delhi Chief Minister he would "hang myself in public" if there was evidence linking him to the shocking pamphlet targeting AAP leader Atishi. The AAP leader is Mr Gambhir's rival for the Delhi East Lok Sabha seat and, at a press conference yesterday, accused the BJP candidate of creating and distributing a pamphlet containing sexist attacks and derogatory comments. She broke down in tears during the press conference. Mr Gambhir has denied any connection with the pamphlet and attacked Mr Kejriwal and AAP instead, targeting the Delhi Chief Minister, demanding an "unconditional apology" and vowing to quit politics if he is found guilty of creating the pamphlet. The former Indian cricket team captain has also posted a series of aggressive messages on Twitter, with the latest saying, "Challenge Number 3 to Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. If he can prove that I have anything to do with this pamphlet filth, then I will hang myself in public". Challenger Number 3 to @ArvindKejriwal and @aap. If he can prove that I have anything to do with this pamphlet filth, then I will hang myself in public. Otherwise @ArvindKejriwal should quit politics. Accepted? — Chowkidar Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 10, 2019 "Otherwise, Arvind Kejriwal should quit politics. Accepted?" he added. Earlier, after Atishi revealed the shocking contents of the pamphlet, she asked, "I have only one question for Gautam Gambhir. If he is doing this against one woman, what about the lakhs of women in east Delhi who are worried about their safety" In a tweet, Mr Kejriwal raised similar questions: "How can women expect safety if people with such mentality are voted in? Atishi, stay strong. I can imagine how difficult it must be for you. It is precisely this kind of forces we have to fight against." Never imagined Gautam Gambhir to stoop so low. How can women expect safety if people wid such mentality are voted in? Atishi, stay strong. I can imagine how difficult it must be for u. It is precisely this kind of forces we have to fight against. https://t.co/vcYObWNK6y — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2019 In response, Mr Gambhir wrote, "I abhor your act of outraging a woman's modesty @ArvindKejriwal and that too your own colleague". I abhor your act of outraging a woman's modesty @ArvindKejriwal and that too your own colleague. And all this for winning elections? U r filth Mr CM and someone needs ur very own झाड़ू to clean ur dirty mind. — Chowkidar Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 9, 2019 Speaking to NDTV, he alleged AAP had circulated the pamphlets. "They have been the ones who distribute pamphlets. It has been there for a long time...tactics on how to malign someone's image. I'm sure none from BJP have ever been involved in something like this," he said. However, he didn't explain on what basis he was accusing AAP of denigrating its own candidate. Both AAP and Mr Gambhir have said they will file defamation lawsuits against the other. AAP and Mr Gambhir have engaged each other in an increasingly explosive war of words since the BJP gave the former cricketer a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Atishi has led the charge against Mr Gambhir so far, alleging he has voter ID cards from two different constituencies. The Election Commission rejected the complaint. All seven of Delhi's Lok Sabha seats, which are all currently held by the BJP, vote on May 12, during the sixth of this seven-phase general election, with results to be declared on May 23.<doc-sep>Firstpost hit ground zero in East Delhi to gauge how the local voters are reacting to its sparring Lok Sabha candidates. There are more than 800 Resident Welfare Associations in East Delhi, where pamphlets with obscene text, which character shame AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi Marlena, have surfaced. In a press conference on Thursday, Atishi broke down as she read out the deplorable contents of the letter. She accused Gautam Gambhir, former cricketer and BJP candidate from East Delhi, of running this smear campaign against her. In retaliation, Gambhir has challenged that if the charges are proven, he will resign and has even gone on to tweet that he will hang himself in public if there is any truth to his involvement in this. At its fag end, the campaign for the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat took an ugly turn. The pamphlet ends with the line: ‘We assure you that even if AAP and Congress join hands, not even a single candidate of theirs will win in Delhi’. The third candidate from the area, Arvinder Singh Lovely from the Congress, hasn’t commented on the ongoing slug fest, which has resulted in a defamation case on AAP leaders by Gambhir and a DCW complaint issued by Atishi. Firstpost hit ground zero to gauge how the local voters are reacting to its sparring Lok Sabha candidates. The two people who came forward and said they have received the pamphlet by post are Alamgir, president of an RWA in Rani Garden, and Rakesh Verma, president of RWA in Surajmal Vihar. Alamgir said that he received the pamphlet by book post on 2 May. He said he was shocked to see that such a letter was addressed to his RWA. “They probably got our details from RWA directories online. The language is unpleasant. I thought many times over before showing it to someone but thought it’s better to report what’s going on,” he said, adding that he forwarded the letter to Munish Kaushik on Whatsapp. Munish is an AAP worker the in East Delhi constituency. “When he sent me the letter (a week before the press conference), I was reluctant to share it with Atishi because the language was derogatory,” he told Firstpost. In the Surajmal Vihar market, Rakesh Verma runs a shop. He said that he received the letter four days ago and called himself apolitical. “I don’t know who has sent this or why they have sent it. I am not associated with any political party and don’t want to join the blame game,” he said. He added that he shared the letter with a certain Thakurji, a veteran who is an AAP supporter in the area. Jitender Singh Shunty, former BJP MLA from Shahdara, runs Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal and his network of nearly 600 volunteers that organises free cremations and blood donation camps. Firstpost reached his office in Seemapuri. “If such pamphlets with derogatory language against women were distributed in my area and I knew who had done it, I would have stood up against the offenders. But neither have we come across any such piece of paper, nor can we establish that the offender is Gambhir,” he said, adding that Kejriwal has a habit of drawing attention to himself and that’s why only AAP is repeatedly attacked. Monica Bhattacharya, president of RWA in Mayur Vihar, said that she has heard from others that the pamphlet was distributed in a BJP rally in the Kundli market area. In Mayur Vihar phase 3, Vijay Rawat is the president of the Joint Form RWA that comprises 20 bodies and a couple of thousand members. “We have checked with each and every RWA in our area whether they received such a letter via book post or in newspapers,” he said. Munish Kaushik from AAP had alleged that pamphlets were slipped into newspapers and distributed to people’s homes in Patparganj. In Mayur Vihar Phase 2, an adjoining area, KK Chaudhary has been running a newspaper shop since three decades. “I’ve heard news of some pamphlets being having been distributed in Gandhinagar (10 km away), but there's nothing in our area,” he shared with Firstpost. It is interesting to note that those who want to spread agenda through newspapers can easily remain faceless. Mahender, a newspaper distributor in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar, said that anybody can come and hand out 500 or more pamphlets and at a charge of 20 paisa per pamphlet, the job can be done. Just like pulling out addresses off an RWA directory, this too is a fairly simple process. Even in more populated areas, the pamphlet seemed missing on ground. Rajesh Agrawal is the president of the Shahdara RWA. Shahdara is a huge Vidhan Sabha constituency in East Delhi with more than two lakh voters. He said that in his network of RWAs in Shahdara, Vihar Vihar, Jwala Nagar, nobody came forward to admit that they had received the pamphlet. Rajat Gupta, RWA president from Anand Vihar, also said there has been no discussion on any such pamphlet. Firstpost also reached out to RWA representatives in Krishna Nagar and Sarita Vihar. While Manoj Sharma of Krishna Nagar was reluctant to speak, Anu Mishra from Sarita Vihar said she hasn’t heard of this. AAP sources shared that the returning officer has ordered an investigation but up until Friday, they said that the police hadn’t registered an FIR. But the slug fest in the media was triggered when the pamphlet reached AAP’s authorities. Om Prakash Sharma, sitting BJP MLA from Vishwas Nagar, told Firstpost, "This is not a women’s issue." He claimed that the attack was a self-sponsored one. BJP has had a stronghold over East Delhi. Anil Bajpai, MLA from Gandhinagar, was formerly with AAP but defected to BJP. Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely had also joined the BJP before the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections in 2017 but later returned to the grand old party. The total number of voters in the constituency is approximately 16 lakh. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh won the constituency in the first elections held to the seat in 1967.<doc-sep>
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Gautam Gambhir has circulated a pamphlet about Atishi containing abusive language. Credited with reforming the educational infrastructure in the national capital, Atishi is AAP's candidate against Gambhir in the East Delhi constituency. In a press conference, where Atishi broke down after reading the content of the pamphlet, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, "Language in this pamphlet is so abusive and low that everybody will feel ashamed while reading it." Later, Aatishi asked Gambhir how the former cricketer would ensure the safety of women in his constituency if he can stoop so low to defeat a strong woman like me. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stood by Atishi, and in a tweet wrote he never imagined "Gautam Gambhir would stoop so low". Never imagined Gautam Gambhir to stoop so low. How can women expect safety if people wid such mentality are voted in? Atishi, stay strong. I can imagine how difficult it must be for u. It is precisely this kind of forces we have to fight against. https://t.co/vcYObWNK6y — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2019 "How can women expect safety if people wid such mentality are voted in? Atishi, stay strong. I can imagine how difficult it must be for u. It is precisely this kind of forces we have to fight against," Kejriwal wrote. Gambhir took to Twitter to dismiss AAP's allegations and declared he would withdraw his candidature if it is proven that he was behind the circulation of offensive pamphlets. The former cricketer also took aim at Kejriwal, alleging that the Delhi CM was behind the entire episode. My Challenge no.2 @ArvindKejriwal @AtishiAAP I declare that if its proven that I did it, I will withdraw my candidature right now. If not, will u quit politics? — Chowkidar Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 9, 2019 "I am ashamed that I have a CM like Kejriwal," he wrote in another tweet. For in-depth, objective and more importantly balanced journalism, Click here to subscribe to Outlook Magazine