BJP, AAP spar over photo of man who attacked CM Rekha Gupta

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) A war of words erupted hours after the assault on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday, with the BJP sharing a purported photo of the attacker with AAP Gujarat leader Gopal Italia, which AAP termed as "AI generated." Delhi BJP MLA Harish Khurana shared the purported photo showing Italia with Rakeshbhai Khimjibhai, who allegedly attacked the CM at her camp office, in a post on X.

"The suspicion proved real. The photo of Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Gopal Italia says a lot," he said in the post.

Khurana alleged the attack on Gupta was "clearly" connected to the AAP and sought an explanation from party convener Kejriwal.

The AAP, in a statement, said that Khurana was actually defaming his party by using the artificial intelligence (AI) generated photo.

The party also said it does not support any violence, and shared a video link of August 2, in which Italia was seen with another person.

In a video message, Italia said that the photo was a "cheap shot by the BJP to defame AAP convener 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.

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar demanded that Delhi Police probe the attack on the Chief Minister "thoroughly" to determine whether it was a "well-planned conspiracy" by the AAP.

Mahawar too shared the photo used by Khurana, questioning whether Italia was connected with the attack. PTI VIT VIT AMJ AMJ