Bharti refutes charges of harassment by wife

Two days after the Delhi Commission for Women summoned him on charges of harassing his wife, AAP leader Somnath Bharti today said they were untrue and lacked substance.

He said he will appear before the Commission wherever he had to and "when a legitimate" need arose. Bharti claimed that he had been living separately from his wife for the past five years and therefore there was "no question of any domestic violence". Among his wife's demands were to "choose between her and my mother," and quit AAP and politics, Bharti told reporters here.

"I have told her that I cannot stop serving my mother and motherland," he said, adding, he was open to discuss other issues with his estranged spouse. Commenting on local politics, he alleged that both DMK and AIADMK were "corrupt" and said his party hoped to "do a Delhi in Tamil Nadu," in next year's Assembly elections in the state.