Raising questions about the media portal ‘mediasarkar.com’ which conducted a sting operation that showed its leaders allegedly raising funds for the party through illegal means, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said it would file a criminal defamation suit against the website for maligning the image of its candidates.

Asking the Election Commission to probe the veracity of the sting operation within 48 hours, the party said that “if they find any of the candidates guilty of any wrongdoing, they will withdraw from the contest”. The party also announced that it would lodge a complaint with the News Broadcasters’ Association and the Press Council of India against news channels for showing the sting operation without verifying its authenticity.

Backing its leader Shazia Ilmi, the AAP said she had offered to withdraw her candidature in the Delhi elections, but it has not been accepted and put on hold till the raw footage of the sting operation is examined.

Meanwhile, a senior official in the state Election Commission told dna that the web portal has submitted the raw footage of the sting operation to them.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Prashant Bhushan said the whole sting operation smacks of conspiracy by rivals as the sting shows several loopholes. They also said that “lot more can happen in the days ahead” before the elections.