On 12th November 2022, one Praatik Innamdar of Aam Aadmi Party’s IT cell in Gujarat tweeted an old video from West Bengal claiming that it is from Gujarat where BJP workers were being beaten up by angry crowd. He added “Morbi Bridge Collapse” hashtag, to insinuate that the people were angry with BJP workers because of the Morbi tragedy that claimed over a hundred lives.
मोरबी में भाजपा का प्रचार करने आए कार्यकर्ता को पीटा…..!
— Praatik innamdar (@Praatik_3300) November 12, 2022
जनता जाग चुकी है..!#MorbiBridgeCollapse
Source : Viral Video pic.twitter.com/ZrStdcudhW
However, the video is old and not from Gujarat.
Notably, the people in the video are speaking in Bangla. The hoardings and boards in the surroundings are in Bangla. As the AAP has included text over the images, it is not clearly seen who is beating whom.
A rickshaw stops near a petrol pump. A man suddenly barges into the scene along with some of his accomplices and thrashes the person in the rickshaw. The rickshaw bears a loudspeaker and the Bharatiya Janata Party flags.
After some research, it was found that the video is originally from West Bengal. The video was shared by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on 6th August 2022. In his tweet, Adhikari has written, “Yesterday Asit Mazumdar; TMC MLA from Chinsurah; Hooghly, thrashed a BJP Karyakarta for campaigning democratically. Those who questioned the NHRC, India’s post-poll violence report, citing ‘Law of the ruler, not Rule of law’ in WB haven’t seen Mamata Banerjee’s GOONDA Raaj.”
Yesterday Asit Mazumdar; TMC MLA from Chinsurah; Hooghly, thrashed a BJP Karyakarta for campaigning democratically.
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) August 6, 2022
Those who questioned @India_NHRC‘s post poll violence report, citing ‘Law of ruler, not Rule of law’ in WB haven’t seen @MamataOfficial‘s GOONDA Raaj.@narendramodi pic.twitter.com/MI0iElQWdO
So, it became clear that the video is originally from West Bengal in which a TMC leader along with his supporters was seen thrashing a BJP worker in West Bengal. Praatik Innamdar who shared this video claiming that it is from Gujarat is a member of the Gujarat IT cell of Arvind Kejriwal. He has also shared his photographs with the party chief Arvind Kejriwal from his Twitter handle in the past.
Gujarat Social Media Team with @ArvindKejriwal @anilkpatell @NiraliMaheriya @GunjanAAP pic.twitter.com/xzxtVSvufF
— Praatik innamdar (@Praatik_3300) September 13, 2022
The screenshots and tweets confirm that the video shared by AAP is not from Gujarat and that by claiming that it is from Morbi, AAP appears to be trying to take the advantage of the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy for its political gains. It is notable that a 140-year-old hanging cable bridge in Morbi collapsed on 30th October 2022. The bridge had just been reopened following renovations.
However, this is not the only incident in which AAP is using old pictures or videos from one place to claim that it is from some other place. AAP has also used a picture from Trinamool Congress Party’s mega rally held in 2018 and claimed that it is from Surat in Gujarat.
An official Twitter handle of the party’s Jhalawar unit shared one such old photograph and claimed that the crowd was present in Surat to follow AAP leader Raghav Chadha who was accompanying Gopal Italia as he filed his nomination form for the assembly elections.
Exposing this lie by Aam Aadmi Party, Kanchan Gupta tweeted, “An official handle of Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP is spreading disinformation. But then, it is Kejriwal and it is not surprising that his fans would use a picture of a 2018 TMC rally in Kolkata West Bengal, and claim the crowds have turned up for Raghav Chadha in Surat Gujarat.
An official handle of #AAP @ArvindKejriwal is spreading disinformation. But then, it is Kejriwal and it is not surprising that his fans would use picture of a 2018 #TMC rally in Kolkata #WestBengal and claim the crowds have turned up for @raghav_chadha in Surat #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/752GmH2FPh
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) November 13, 2022
State assembly elections in Gujarat will take place on December 1 and December 5. The results of the same will be declared on December 8.
