"Can Give Up Jalebis...": Gautam Gambhir's Retort After "Missing" Posters

Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir today delivered a sharp retort to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in response to relentless trolling over photos of his "Jalebi-eating" in Indore on Friday, at a time he was missed in an anti-pollution meeting in Delhi. The BJP MP has also been the target of posters in the capital today mocking him as "Missing, last seen eating jalebis".

"If Delhi's pollution rose because I ate jalebis, then I can give up jalebis altogether," Gautam Gambhir told news agency ANI. "They started trolling me within 10 minutes...if they had invested so much effort in reducing pollution, we would have been able to breathe," the first-time parliamentarian fumed.

This morning, "missing" posters in Delhi taunted the MP.

"Lapata (Missing). Have you seen this person? He was last seen eating 'jalebis' in Indore. All of Delhi is looking for him," read the caption to a picture of Mr Gambhir, the Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi.

A meeting to discuss the pollution crisis in Delhi and its neighbourhood was called off as only four MPs on a 28-member parliamentary panel showed up.

As the no-shows provoked a controversy, photos of Mr Gambhir, who was in Indore as cricket commentator for a channel, were derided by AAP. The MP was seen enjoying jalebis with two former teammates.

Mr Gambhir hit back the same day, saying he should be judged by his work and not by "propaganda or false narrative spread by the minions of the honest CM".

He accused AAP of making an issue of his commercial engagements, entered into before he became an MP, to mask the ''incompetence'' and ''political greed'' of their leader (Arvind Kejriwal). It is the "saddest thing" that the party, which claims to represent the honest people, could do, said the ex-cricketer.