New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had come into existence on the promise of alternate politics, but this election season, its Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi Atishi has set a new low by asking people to vote for a ‘goonda candidate’ of the Samajwadi Party-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP.

Going against the AAP's initial ideology of clean politics, Atishi, in a video that is going viral on social media, can be seen addressing a gathering and asking people to vote for a goonda (goon). Atishi is heard saying that only the SP-BSP coalition can fight the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, and even if its candidate is a criminal, one should vote for him.

“It is our responsibility to vote for such a candidate/party that can defeat the BJP. But we also know there is no single party in the country that can defeat the BJP alone. There are regional parties that are fighting against the BJP in different states. For example, in UP, only the SP-BSP collation can defeat the BJP. So if you are an UP voter, you should vote for the coalition no matter how the candidate is. Someone I know called up and said our candidate is a goonda, still, we have to vote for the candidate to defeat the BJP,” Atishi is heard saying in a one-minute clip.

This controversial statement by her has sparked another political row. It has drawn flak from the public on social media.

Atishi is the AAP's East Delhi candidate for Lok Sabha elections. She will be up against BJP’s Gautam Gambhir and Congress’s Arvinder Singh Lovely. Atishi is credited for her work in the education sector in Delhi, but created controversy by dropping her last name 'Marlena' allegedly because it sounded Christian.