New Delhi: A purported Aam Aadmi Party poster to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti, featuring Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal prominently and a small photograph of Mahatma Gandhi in the corner, has gone viral on social media.
The poster seems to be a full-page advertisement in a newspaper, according to the images in circulation. Gandhi’s famous quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”, is part of the poster.
Kejriwal jayanti ki shubhkamnaein – MK Gandhi ? pic.twitter.com/vGk966XkLg
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) October 2, 2021
The image was first shared by a user named ‘Mr Sinha’ in a tweet Saturday, which has garnered over 4,000 likes and more than 1,000 retweets.
Politicians like Congress’ Ali Mehdi and Amrita Dhawan had also shared the image, but the tweets have been deleted since.
Several other social media users also called out the AAP for allegedly highlighting Kejriwal instead of Gandhi.
महात्मा गांधी की तरफ से केजरीवाल जयन्ती की शुभकामनाएं ?? pic.twitter.com/9yQqK1z3Vd
— सर्वेश शुक्ला (@shuklaaji250) October 2, 2021
गांधी जी नये अवतार में ? pic.twitter.com/ykvQ8FyDU6
— Deepak Lahri.c ✍️ ? (@DeepakLahric) October 2, 2021
Fact check
The AAP, however, did not publish any such poster on Gandhi Jayanti. In fact, the original advertisement features a large picture of Gandhi, with Kejriwal in the corner.
Real Image?
Cc @zoo_bear @AltNews @AFWACheck @boomlive_in @free_thinker @FactCheckIndia pic.twitter.com/SKMO7ifcI8
— Siddharth (@ethicalsid) October 2, 2021
A complaint has also been filed against the Twitter handle ‘Mr Sinha’ for sharing the morphed image.
The complaint, filed by Delhi High Court advocate Mohammed Irshad, urges the police to file an FIR under sections 465 (punishment for forgery), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged electronic document), 474 (having possession of a forged document), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
Also read: New York Times didn’t feature Modi on front page or call him ‘last hope’. Image is fake