Sambit Patra shared photos taken during CM Adityanath's tenure to target SP - Alt News
Kinjal
11th January 2022 / 8:53 pm / Last updated: 12th January 2022
The BJP and Samajwadi Party have been sparring frequently ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Members of both parties have been sharing old or unrelated images and videos for political one-upmanship.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted a graphic on January 4, 2022 comparing the situation in Uttar Pradesh under SP’s leadership and after Yogi Adityanath became chief minister in 2017. Three images are added in the ‘Before 2017’ section and three in the ‘After 2017’ section. One of the images included in the ‘Before’ panel shows the poor state of schools. On the other hand, an image in the ‘After’ panel shows students in a well-equipped school inside what looks like a science lab. The caption below the images reads, “Noble in thought, powerful in action”. While sharing the visuals, Patra wrote, “The difference is clear”. (Archive link)
फर्क साफ है! pic.twitter.com/I4YVnKa9ei
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) January 4, 2022
He also shared the image on Facebook.
Alt News found in its investigation that all the three images in the ‘Before 2017’ section where taken during CM Yogi Adityanath’s tenure and not when the SP was in power.
Image 1
We identified the image using Google Lens and found an Amar Ujala story which carried it on January 7, 2021. The school is located in Jafarpur village, Uttar Pradesh. The report discusses the state of several other dilapidated primary schools. In the district, a total of 111 schools were found to be in poor condition.
Image 2
Taking a closer look at the image, we noticed a timestamp on the bottom right corner that reads, ‘August 8, 2018 10:25’.
We performed a reverse image search which led us to an article on UttarPradesh.org published on August 8, 2018. According to the report, the image shows Amanpur Primary School located in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.
Image 3
With the help of Google Lens, we found this image in a NewsAddaa article dated December 17, 2020. The photo shows a primary school located in the Heda Padri area of Sukrauli, Kushinagar. The report states that the officer who was sent to audit the school found it locked from the outside. The school was shut due to the negligence of teachers. The investigating officer revealed that appropriate action would be taken in the matter.
Thus, all three images that show poor conditions of government schools in Uttar Pradesh were shot during CM Yogi Adityanath’s tenure.
The remaining three images
Alt News performed a reverse image search and discovered that Y Satya Kumar, BJP National Secretary and BJP Uttar Pradesh in-charge, had tweeted the remaining three photos on January 3, 2022. The images have been identified to depict a government school in Bulandshahr.
A silent revolution is taking place in govt schools of Uttar Pradesh.
These pictures are of a govt school in Bulandshahr.
Kudos to @myogiadityanath Ji. pic.twitter.com/gdwsCO4WfL
— Y. Satya Kumar (@satyakumar_y) January 3, 2022
One of the images shared by a Twitter user shows a hoarding in the back that reads, ‘Sarla Thakral Astronomy Lab’.
12 new admissions in one month has come to gram panchayat Sawali after the lab. pic.twitter.com/QQXJAxh5rr
— Aryan Mishra (@desiastronomer) December 30, 2021
According to reports, astronomy labs are being installed in primary and secondary schools in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh as part of a new 2020 education scheme called ‘Operation Kayakalp’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeZNYJmFD4o
In 2019, The Lallantop released a video report from Secunderabad, Bulandshahr where its reporters visited the same school and featured its astronomy lab.
Each of the image in Sambit Patra infographic was, thus, taken after 2017 when Yogi Adityanath was appointed as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
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.
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