After Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was attacked at her Civil Lines camp office, a political storm broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over a controversial photo shared online. The BJP alleged that the attacker had links with AAP, while the latter dismissed the claims as a smear campaign involving artificial intelligence-generated content.
BJP MLA Shares Photo, Seeks Explanation from Kejriwal
Delhi BJP MLA Harish Khurana posted a purported photograph on X, claiming it showed Gujarat AAP MLA Gopal Italia alongside Rakeshbhai Khimjibhai, the man accused of attacking the Chief Minister.
“The suspicion proved real. The photo of Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide Gopal Italia says a lot,” Mr Khurana wrote in his post. He alleged that the assault on Ms Gupta was “clearly connected to the AAP” and demanded a response from party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Another BJP leader, MLA Ajay Mahawar, pressed for a thorough investigation by Delhi Police, suggesting that the incident could be part of a “well-planned conspiracy by the AAP.”
AAP Hits Back, Calls Photo ‘Fake’
The Aam Aadmi Party strongly refuted the allegation, describing the image as doctored. In a statement carried by PTI, the party said: “Khurana was actually defaming his party by using the artificial intelligence (AI) generated photo.”
Gopal Italia Responds, Warns of Legal Action
Gopal Italia himself accused the BJP of running a smear campaign, alleging that the doctored photo was “a cheap shot by the BJP to defame AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.”
“Since I have been elected MLA from Visavadar, the BJP leaders are baffled. A fake photo of me, editing an old video, was posted on X,” Italia said, sharing a link to the video.
हरीश खुराना जी, आप की ख़ुद की तो किसी ट्रोलर से ज़्यादा इज्जत है नहीं लेकिन ऐसी घटिया हरकत करने से पहले अपने पिताजी मदनलाल जी की इज्जत की तो परवाह कर लेते?
दो रूपिये Per ट्वीट के हिसाब से काम कर रहे भाजपाई छुटभैये से भी निम्न स्तर के आप के कारनामे देखकर स्वर्गीय मदनलाल खुराना… https://t.co/KjeG09XACl
— Gopal Italia (@Gopal_Italia) August 20, 2025
In a strongly worded social media post, Italia lashed out at Harish Khurana: “Harish Khurana ji, you yourself don’t have more respect than a troll, but before indulging in such cheap antics, didn’t you think about the honour of your father, Madan Lal ji?” He went on to add: “Seeing your deeds, which are even lower than those of a small-time BJP worker paid two rupees per tweet, would the late Madan Lal Khurana ji be very pleased? What would he be thinking, seeing his son become a petty troll?”
The AAP leader urged the media not to carry reports based on “this petty troll Harish ji’s tweet without verifying it,” cautioning that he would be “forced to take legal action.”
He also wrote a post directly urging CM Rekha Gupta’s intervention. The attack on you is extremely unfortunate. I condemn this attack. The vile troll @HarishKhuranna from your own party is engaging in low-level politics regarding the attack on you. I hope you will give some advice to the troll Harish ji, who is politicising the sensitive incident of the attack.”
Police Book Attacker Under BNS
Meanwhile, Delhi Police confirmed that Sakaria Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai, a resident of Rajkot in Gujarat, had been arrested and booked for attempt to murder under Section 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police officials described him as a “serial offender” with several cases registered against him in Gujarat, although many had ended in acquittals.
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