The fight for the East Delhi seat between the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Atishi and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gautam Gambhir is the most-watched battle in the national capital in the ongoing 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the latest, Twitter users on Friday, 10 May, claimed that the cricketer-turned BJP neta Gambhir had ‘hired’ a duplicate to impersonate him during the election campaign.
The photo was first tweeted by TV9 Bharatvarsh reporter Kumar Kundan.
The man in the cap is identified as Gaurav Arora, who is currently associated with the Gambhir campaign.
AAP leader Akshay Marathe, who is working with the Atishi campaign, tweeted that “a Congress neta takes over as a stunt double,” when Gambhir “enjoys” air-conditioning.
‘Insult to Voters,’ Says Twitter
People on Twitter said it was an “insult” to voters if he could not bear India’s dust and heat.
BJP Calls AAP’s Claim ‘Nuisance’
Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, denying that anyone was ‘hired’ to duplicate Gambhir, told The Quint, that every candidate takes rest during the course of campaigning, and that the picture that is being circulated simply shows a group of people waving at others.
“Gambhir is hardly 5 feet tall and has a thin-build. The man in the photo, who is said to be waving at the public, as a duplicate, is a tall man, as it appears and very stoutly. There are 8-10 people in that tempo. When the neta is standing with the group and waving at people, everyone waves. But in this case, the neta was sitting in the car. It was not like he wasn’t present. That man has not put a mask of Gautam Gambhir, has he?”Praveen Shankar Kapoor, Spokesperson
He also alleged that the AAP was circulating the photo as an attempt “to remain in the contest.”
“The Aam Aadmi Party is nowhere in the contest. So to remain in the contest, in the picture, they are creating a nuisance every other moment. This is one more.”Praveen Shankar Kapoor, Spokesperson
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