Gautam Gambhir on Friday said, "I condemn what has happened. I am from a family where I have been taught to respect women. I didn't know CM Arvind Kejriwal would stoop so low. I have filed a defamation case."
Earlier yesterday, Gambhir had said he would withdraw from the Lok Sabha contest if the charge was proved against him. "I declare that if its proven that I did it, I will withdraw my candidature right now. If not, will u quit politics?," he said in a tweet addressed to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Kejriwal and Atishi, the party candidate from East Delhi.
On Thursday, Atishi broke down reading a pamphlet containing "obscene and derogatory" remarks against her. She alleged that the pamphlets were distributed in the constituency by her Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival.
Refuting the allegation, Gambhir slammed Kejriwal in a series of tweets, saying he was "ashamed" to have him as the chief minister of Delhi.
BJP's media in-charge, East Delhi, Nvon Kumar also said, "The BJP has nothing to do with the alleged pamphlets. AAP has no character and its notoriety about stage managing such things is well known. They can do anything like getting their leaders slapped and distribute scandalous pamphlets to be in race for Lok Sabha elections that they are badly losing."
However, in a press conference held at the Delhi BJP office, AAP MLA Anil Bajpai, who switched sides recently, alleged that he saw Atishi "eating beef at a wedding".
The political atmosphere in the national capital vitiated hours before the poll campaigning concluded on Friday evening, with the BJP and the AAP indulging in a bitter blame game.
(With inputs from PTI)