Congress leader and Former Rajya Sabha MP BL Mungekar has landed himself in trouble for sharing fake news. Notably, in a post on X (Twitter) which has now been deleted, the Congress leader claimed that President Droupadi Murmu was present when Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
In the post peddling falsehoods, Mungekar had attacked the President claiming that by joining PM Modi’s nominations, she has brought disgrace to her position. He also urged ECI to take action in this matter. He posted a photograph, where PM Modi is seen handing over nomination papers to an officer, accompanied by Draupadi Murmu and a large number of NDA leaders.
Bhalchandra Laxman Mungekar wrote in the tweet, “While filing the election nomination form of Shri Narendra Modi, the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu’s presence is a gross violation of the Election Code of Conduct. She too has brought a disgrace to her position. The Election Commission of India must take an appropriate action in the matter.”
However, the claims that President Murmu joined PM Modi when he filed his nomination papers are false and fake news. The picture and the incident that is being used to peddle the allegations date back to June 2022 when NDA leaders accompanied their candidate Droupadi Murmu to file her nomination papers for elections for the post of India’s President. Incidentally, Congress had opposed NDA pick Murmu’s candidature and had fielded Yashwant Sinha.
On 24 June 2022, PM Modi shared several pictures from filing the nomination, one of which was part of the Congress leader’s post peddling fake news.
Earlier today, accompanied leaders from different parties for the filing of nomination papers of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. pic.twitter.com/A83Z2Qh31F
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 24, 2022
Hours after sharing the false claims, Congress leader Mungekar claimed that someone else made the post from his handle and also extended an apology.
I’ve just got back the access to my twitter account. A tweet with misinformation was published by someone from my handle.
— Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar (@DrMungekar) May 5, 2024
Sincere apologies.
B.L. Mungekar.
Claiming that he has gained access to his Twitter handle, Mungekar wrote, “I’ve just got back the access to my Twitter account. A tweet with misinformation was published by someone from my handle. Sincere apologies.” With this, he gave the familiar excuse of ‘my account was hacked / my nephew tweeted that’ after he was caught peddling fake news.
It is notable that, PM Modi has not filed his nomination papers from his Varanasi constituency or any other constituency till now. In fact, nominations for the constituency have not even started. Varanasi will vote in the last and seventh phase of the polls on 1 June. The Election Commission will issue the gazette notification for the 7th phase elections on 7 May, and only after that, the candidates will be able to file their nominations for the 57 constituencies in the last phase, including Varanasi. As per reports, PM Modi is slated to file his nomination from Varanasi on 14th May, the last date for filing nominations.
Apart from being a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader, Mungekar is an Economist who has previously served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai. He was also a member of the Planning Commission of India.
The development comes at a time when Congress leaders, its IT cell, and its ecosystem are embroiled in legal troubles for sharing a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and peddling fake news about BJP abolishing SC, ST, and OBC reservation if voted to power. While a few X handles have been withheld in India for sharing the fake video, Police have also arrested several Congress leaders and functionaries of its IT cell.
