Old image of water-logged lane in Punjab shared as Delhi to target CM Kejriwal

by Kinjal

General Secretary of BJP Delhi Ravinder Gupta shared a photograph of a family sipping tea in a water-logged lane. Gupta attacked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi by claiming that the picture is from Kirari assembly constituency which Kejriwal has converted into “London”.

National Spokesperson of Akali Dal Manjinder Sirsa quote-tweeted Gupta and took a jibe at Kejriwal — “Don’t know about London but he surely converted Delhi into Venice.”

‘The picture is also doing the rounds on Facebook as Surat, Gujarat.

Old image from Punjab

A reverse image search led to a tweet by journalist Salil Tripathi on July 27. Tripathi said that this picture is not from Surat but Punjab. He retweeted a tweet by AAP MLA Gurmeet Singh from Barnala district of Punjab.

On July 18, 2016, Gurmeet Singh had tweeted this picture claiming that a family in Mansa district of Punjab protested against “shoddy sewage work” by the Akali Dal.

A user shared a news clipping of Punjab Kesari while replying to Singh. The report describes the picture as, “After rain in Mansa, people sitting on a street filled with water, enjoying the rain with a cup of tea.”

The photo is circulating as Delhi since 2016. On July 20, 2016, a Twitter user had shared the Punjab Kesari clipping when Chairman of RPG Group Harsh Goenka promoted the false claim.

A picture from 2016 shot in Punjab is therefore shared as Delhi to target the AAP government for “poor” drainage system.

About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.