BJP leader accuses Gandhi Nagar MLA of levelling 'fictional allegations' against East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir

NEW DELHI: The strained relations between East Delhi BJP MP Gautam Gambhir and Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpai have come to the fore once again, with a complaint submitted to the Delhi BJP against the latter by a district president of the party.

Ram Kishor Sharma, the president of the Shahdara district unit of the saffron party, wrote a letter to Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta on Sunday, accusing Bajpai of indulging in "anti-party activities".

In his letter, Sharma, a close aide of Gambhir, referred to a recent newspaper report accusing the cricketer-turned-politician of maintaining a distance with party leaders.

"Anil Bajpai, in collusion with the newspaper, levelled fictional allegations against the Member of Parliament (Gambhir)," Sharma charged in his letter to Gupta.

He said during the Indian Premiere League (IPL), he had visited Kolkata where Gambhir, who is associated with a team in the cricket league, met him from a distance as he was following "bio-bubble" precautions.

Sharma also accused Bajpai of making statements over Gambhir's initiatives such as Jan Rasoi and the setting up of a library in east Delhi.

Bajpai, a two-time MLA from the Gandhi Nagar Assembly constituency in east Delhi, rubbished Sharma's charges.

"If Sharma felt that I had anything to do with any news report, he could have asked me. Instead, in the garb of writing a letter to the Delhi BJP president, he leaked the letter to the media," he alleged.

Bajpai said he had never indulged in any anti-party activity as alleged by Sharma.

"It is Sharma who has involved himself in anti-party activities by seeking to leak his letter to the media. I am only concerned with public work and could have differences with the local MP, but will never resort to anything as has been alleged by Sharma," he said.

Bajpai said he was not questioned or contacted by any party leader, including the Delhi BJP chief, over Sharma's allegations.

The differences between Gambhir and Bajpai had surfaced earlier also over the no-entry norm for vehicles at the Gandhi Nagar market in 2020.

Bajpai had quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls.