How the Atishi-Gautam Gambhir pamphlet row is raging on social media

Who: Atishi, a star candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), broke down at a press conference on May 9 while reading out a pamphlet, allegedly circulated in the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency by her opponents to malign her. She alleged that Gautam Gambhir, cricketer-turned-politician and her rival from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was responsible for the smear campaign.

How: The scurrilous pamphlet is peppered with sexist barbs aimed at Atishi and also refers to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia pejoratively. It “assures” that even if the AAP and the Congress were to join hands, they would fail to win a single seat. The BJP won all seven seats in the 2014 election. The vicious personal attack on Atishi — repeatedly calling her a “prostitute”, claiming that she is married to a “beef-eating Christian” and making insinuations about her relationship with Sisodia — sparked off a fresh row between the candidates. Atishi, an Oxford University alumna and Rhodes Scholar who worked as Sisodia’s advisor on education and is credited with helping reform public schools in Delhi, asked: “If Gambhir can stoop so low to defeat a strong woman like me, how can he ensure security for women as an MP?” Gambhir rubbished the allegations, and a day later sent a defamation notice to AAP demanding an apology, in response to which Sisodia threatened a counter defamation suit. The row also divided opinions online. Some voiced their support for the AAP candidate, others dismissed her reaction as melodrama.

Where: East Delhi, one of the seven constituencies of Delhi, has witnessed a bitter rivalry between Atishi and Gambhir ever since the latter was inducted into the BJP and fielded as a candidate last month. The AAP had earlier alleged that Gambhir has two voter IDs and filed a criminal complaint.

What: The unsigned pamphlet merely goes by the header of “Atishi Marlena —Know Your Candidate”. While the identity of those behind the pamphlet remains unknown, its contents mark another low in this general election. This episode also reflects the sexism that women in Indian politics routinely face. This general election a Maharashtra politician made bizarrely lewd remarks about BJP’s Smriti Irani’s bindi, a couple of BJP leaders commented on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s dressing style while two Samajwadi Party’s leaders — including repeat offender Azam Khan — made disparaging statements against former party leader Jaya Prada who recently joined the BJP. 

With the increasing popularity of circulating fake news, images and videos on social media, political parties and their supporters aren’t shy of propagating sexism online. Among the most dubious in recent memory is the support from some Facebook users for the BJP’s circulating images of Bond girl Ursula Andress as Congress’s Sonia Gandhi. Sexism is rampant across parties and spares no one, it would seem. And although parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal have fielded 41 and 33 per cent women candidates respectively this election, reports suggest that despite their increasing participation the winnability of women has actually decreased. The regularity of sexist attacks suggests the odds aren’t favouring women in politics anytime soon.