On December 29, India Today published a news story with a completely misleading headline which shows that Yogi Adityanath government of the Uttar Pradesh in very poor light. The headline of the story is “Homeless people asked to return blankets given by CM Yogi Adityanath, case filed against accused”. The text used by India Today to share the report on Twitter was even more misleading, as it said, “Soon after the CM Yogi Adityanath left, destitute people were asked to return the blankets given to them.”
https://twitter.com/IndiaToday/status/1211262828704747522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The headline and tweet give the impression that the blankets were taken by the government after they were distributed by the CM, implying that it was done only for photographs. Moreover, the headline is also unclear about who is the accused, and people may assume that the case is filed against the homeless people.
As expected, people started attacking the UP government based on this report.
https://twitter.com/HaridasKishore/status/1211480759946506240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/mdazhar98013403/status/1211301745529217024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Even the Senior Associate Editor of the Print also shared the India Today tweet.
https://twitter.com/sneheshphilip/status/1211478839324553216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But contrary to what the India Today headline and tweet are implying, the UP government didn’t take the blankets back after distribution. It was some unknown person who did it, and now the administration has filed a case against those officials.
According to reports, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had visited government hospitals and shelters for homeless on December 26, and distributed blankets to the poor people. But about one hour after the CM left, few people had taken the blankets back. It is not known whether those persons were govt officials or some other people. After the news of the blankets being taken was published by a few local newspapers on 28th, the administration took note of the same and a case was registered against unknown persons.
The administration has said that they have not taken the blankets back. The FIR filed in the case also mentions that the blankets were not taken back by the administration, and it was done by some unknown people.
Therefore, the India Today report, particularly the headline and the tweet, is completely misleading.