The Congress party and its leader Priyanka Gandhi, who has been at the forefront of the anti-farm law protests that in turn have been spearheaded by Khalistani elements, have been caught in their own web of lies. On Monday, popular Twitter handle ‘Political Kida’ pointed out a tweet by Gandhi wherein she shared a fake story about an ’emotional union’ between a farmer and his soldier son.
Priyanka Gandhi, who is the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee for Uttar Pradesh, had tweeted on Sunday (February 7), “Immediately, after he was sanctioned a leave, a soldier went to Delhi to meet his father. He was tear-eyed. His father has been fighting for his identity and existence for the past 75 days (referring the elderly man as a farmer who has been participating in the anti-farm law agitation).”
She further claimed, “And this corporate-friendly government has the audacity to call them terrorists, traitors and conspirators? The opportunist and fraud government must be ashamed of itself”. Her ’emotional’ Twitter post was accompanied by a picture of an elderly man holding onto the cheeks of a young man, dressed in a soldier’s uniform.
https://twitter.com/PoliticalKida/status/1358728393806798851?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHours after Congress scion Priyanka Gandhi posted the tweet, India Today’s Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that her tweet was misleading. Although India Today fact-checked other Twitter handles who posted the same story, it is clear that the Congress leader lied in her tweet. The news portal concluded that the picture was not taken in Delhi, as claimed by Priyanka Gandhi, but in Ludhiana in Punjab. After her tweet was debunked, the Congress scion quickly deleted her tweet.
When Twitter handle ‘Political Kida’ pointed it out, Congress Secretary (Communications) Dr Vineet Punia alleged that Priyanka Gandhi never posted any such tweet. Instead of questioning the Congress leader, Punia labelled Political Kida as a ‘fake’ news purveyor and urged Twitter India to take notice.
But, his enthusiasm was short-lived as the Twitter handle shared the archived link of Mrs Gandhi’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/PoliticalKida/status/1359073904396890113?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwOpindia also found that the official Twitter handle (@INCIndia) of Congress Party had also shared the same picture with a similar misleading claim on Sunday. “The BJP rulers have brought the farmer and the solider at crossroads with each other. But both of them are committed to the service of the nation and they co-operate with each other. BJP’s plan is to drive a wedge between a farmer and a soldier will not succeed”, the tweet read.
At the time of writing, the official handle of the Congress party did not delete the tweet. It is interesting to note how the chain of lies caught the grand old party and its leader Priyanka Gandhi off-guard. Although Mrs Gandhi was the first to post the fake story about the reunion of a ‘farmer and a soldier’, she did not apologise for her tweet. Another Congress leader, Dr Punia, then lied about the fact that Priyanka Gandhi peddled fake news on the micro-blogging site. While the saga of fake news continued, the official handle of the Congress party forgot to delete the tweet.
Congress lies about rioter’s death
In a shameful display of political opportunism, Congress party continues to flog the dead horse regarding the unfortunate death of a rioter named Navreet Singh during the Republic Day violence after his tractor overturned. The protestor was killed on Republic Day after his tractor turned turtle while he was trying to break barricades.
Soon after, several media portals, journalists and politicians started peddling the fake news that Navreet Singh died of a bullet injury after Delhi police shot him. Delhi police had issued a clarification soon after stating that the protestor died of injuries sustained by him after his tractor turned turtle. Delhi police’s clarification was confirmed by the postmortem report of the deceased protestor that stated that he had died of “shock and haemorrhage as a result of antemortem head injury”.
In a classic case of political opportunism, Priyanka Gandhi along with other Congress leaders left for Rampur in Uttar Pradesh to meet Navreet’s family members.However, in utter disregard for truth, the Congress party continues to peddle the narrative that Navreet Singh died after being shot by the Delhi police. In an apparent effort to further politicise the issue, Congress scion Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the family of Navreet Singh.