Aam Aadmi Party has accused Gautam Gambhir of circulating derogatory pamphlets about Atishi Marlena. AAP held a press conference where Atishi broke down and said: "If Gambhir can stoop so low to defeat a strong woman like me, how can he ensure security for women as an MP?".

The official Twitter handle of the party tweeted "BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir circulated derogatory pamphlet about @AtishiAAP in East Delhi constituency. Language in this pamphlet is so abusive and low that everybody will feel ashamed while reading it - @msisodia"

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted:

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.

Manish Sisodia tweeted: "Mr @GautamGambhir! You want to be elected by distributing these handbills against me and Atishi? Shame on you Mr Gambhir! People of East Delhi know me and Atishi very well but through these handbills you have introduced yourself. This is your character."

Here is the Pamphlet tweeted by Manish Sisodia which he and AAP believe that it was published and circulated by BJP East Delhi candidate Gautam Gambhir. The Pamphlet refers to Atishi as ‘mixed-breed’ and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal as ‘Kuta Kejriwal’ and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as ‘Kanjar Sisodia’.

Many journalists have tweeted in support of Atishi Marlena. Barkha Dutt writes "Only women are subjected to crap about husbands, lovers, imagined moral violation & sexual judgement/ innuendos.I would never take a political side as a journalist but for utter misogyny @AtishiAAP has been through, if nothing else, she should be in Parliament. #IStandWithAtishi".

Was the Pamphlet circulated by Gautam Gambhir?

Here are some of the questions that we try to answer in order to find the truth.

Q. Is the letter written in Gautam's handwriting?
A. No. The letter is printed and there is no signature

Q. How did the Media/country come to know about that letter for the 1st time?
A.  Through AAP. If it was distributed by BJP, some of the people who received it must have shared it on social media which is not the case here.

Q. How did AAP get that letter?
A. Nobody knows. Maybe some people who would have received it from BJP would have given it to AAP.

Q. Are there any proofs against Gautam?
A. There is no proof that Gautam Gambhir has anything to do with this pamphlet.

Now, it clearly shows that the available information in the public domain can't say anything about Gautam's role in this Pamphlet.

Gambhir Responds

The BJP candidate has, however, has rejected Atishi’s claim, saying that he would withdraw his candidature if it is proven that he did it. He also hinted that the said derogatory letter was actually written and published by Aam Aadmi Party itself. He tweeted:

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 ????? to clean ur dirty mind.

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?

Whatsapp screenshot between the party's members

A Twitter user @Imanot_Immortal has tweeted a WhatsApp screenshot of a purported conversation between the party's members where one person allegedly sent the document maligning AAP's Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi, Atishi, to another person asking them to tweet the same with the hashtag '#IStandWithAtishi' for Rs 200 per tweet. 

The same screenshot was tweeted by Rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kapil Mishra who claimed that he has verified the authenticity of the screenshot. He wrote: "I have shared this screenshot, only after confirming. This will be used in court. Game over for fraud Kejriwal Gang".

Here is the screenshot which is now viral on social media:

The authenticity of the screenshot

Several people on social media have raised the question over the authenticity of this screenshot. Pratik Sinha, the founder of a left-leaning fact-checking portal Alt News who himself has been caught spreading misinformation asked for a video which can prove the authenticity of the screenshot. He tweeted:

Hello @Iamnot_Immortal, we are investigating this screenshot. Would you be able to corroborate this screenshot through a video from your phone where we can clearly see that this is a message you have received and it is not a manufactured screenshot?

In our investigation, we found that the screenshot is certainly not photoshopped or edited but even if the user provides the video, it will not be sufficient to establish that the message was indeed shared by AAP member.

One can use WhatsApp with two number on two phones. In the first phone, one can use the DP of 'AAP- Amit Mishra' and in the 2nd phone one can save the first phone number with the name "AAP- Amit Mishra". Now send this message from 1st phone to the 2nd. Now take the screenshot of WhatsApp message in the 2nd phone. So, even if a video is provided, it will not prove anything. If the video will show the mobile number of the saved contact which can be compared with the actual mobile number of AAP- Amit Mishra. But there are numerous possibilities in this case. 

Beyond the scope of Fact Checkers

This screenshot can only be verified by the police. They need to find the mobile number from which this message was sent and find out the owner of that sim. 

Conclusion: At this point of time, there is not even an iota of evidence which can suggest that the purported pamphlet was distributed by Gautam Gambhir or BJP.

Even though there is no proof, Arvind Kejriwal is busy in doing character assassination of Gautam Gambhir. 

Defamation Notice by Gautam Gambhir

The Delhi unit of BJP has tweeted that Gautam Gambhir has sent defamation notice to Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Atishi Marlena asking them to withdraw their false statements and apologize or else legal proceedings would be initiated against them.

Manish Sisodia reacted to this defamation notice by using offensive language against Gautam Gambhir.

Fact Hunt's opinion: The language used in the pamphlet is disgusting and the abuses being hurled at Gautam Gambhir without any proof shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the people.

We as a society shouldn't let this case go. Police must investigate this case and culprits should not be spared. We deserve to know the truth.