Kejriwal ‘tweet’ on ED-CBI summons to politicians amplified by Kiren Rijiju is fake

A tweet from 2012 purportedly by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is viral on social media. In it, he calls for the resignation of ‘corrupt leaders’ who do not appear before ED and CBI even after multiple summons. This is in the backdrop of the Enforcement Directorate issuing a fresh summons to Kejriwal in the probe into the money laundering allegations against him in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. He had declined to appear before the federal agency on two earlier summons on November 2 and December 21.

Union minister and BJP MP from Arunachal (West) Kiren Rijiju tweeted the screenshot and sarcastically wrote, “I agree 100% with Arvind Kejriwal Ji.”. (Archive)

I agree 100% with Arvind Kejriwal Ji.

मैं अरविन्द केजरीवाल जी से 100% सहमत हूँ! pic.twitter.com/Qr4n4gJK3G

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) December 22, 2023

Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva referred to the purported tweet in a byte to the Press Trust of India. He said, “…On November 24, 2012, he wrote on social media that politicians should resign once they get a summon from ED or CBI. However, to avoid the summon, he has gone for ‘Vipassana'”. (Archive)

VIDEO | “(Delhi CM) Arvind Kejriwal is behaving like a criminal. A criminal always tries to avoid investigation. On November 24, 2012, he wrote on social media that politicians should resign once they get a summon from ED or CBI. However, to avoid the summon, he has gone for… pic.twitter.com/Xsz3JoxfZu

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 23, 2023

BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh also tweeted the screenshot and attempted to bring the purported tweet to ‘Kejriwal’s notice’. (Archive)

अरविंद जी , आपकी लिखी कुछ बात आपके समक्ष संज्ञान में ला रहा हूँ , गौर फ़रमाइएगा। pic.twitter.com/VSJTlLbC4J

— Parvesh Sahib Singh (@p_sahibsingh) December 22, 2023

Right-Wing influencer Rishi Bagree, too, tweeted the screenshot. (Archive)

Couldn’t agree more 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Y319LdtEog

— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) December 22, 2023

Other users including Major Surendra Poonia and national spokesperson of BJP Gaurav Bhatia amplified the claim.

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Fact Check

We noticed that Kejriwal’s alleged tweet contained 257 characters. However, in 2012, the maximum character limit for a tweet was 140. This suggests that Kejriwal’s ‘tweet’ is not genuine.

Amanpreet Singh Uppal, the team lead for AAP Delhi’s social media, responded to Bhatia’s tweet with a graphic fact-checking the viral claim, urging him to refrain from sharing “fake tweet”.

Fake Tweet और जुमला राजनीति के ऊपर भी कुछ सोच लिया करो भाजपाईयो pic.twitter.com/9wNAKe8F3O

— Amanpreet Singh Uppal (@iAmanUppal) December 22, 2023

We also used Twitter’s advanced search feature to look at Kejriwal’s tweets on the day of the purported tweet, November 24. None of them are similar to the one seen in the viral screenshot.

Hence, it is clear that a fake tweet is being attributed to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the backdrop of the ED summons to him for the third time in the Delhi excise policy case. Several influential Twitter handles, including BJP MP Kiren Rijiju have amplified the fake tweet.