Credit: Vishvas News
With polling for the assembly elections in Maharashtra scheduled for November 20, candidates have been trying hard to win over voters. A video going viral on social media shows a person in saffron robes on a bulldozer. It is being claimed that this person is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Vishvas News investigated the viral post. It was found to be fake. The person is actually a look-alike of the UP CM. Investigations also revealed that on November 6, the person sought votes while riding a bulldozer in support of the BJP candidate Harish Pimpale in Akola, Maharashtra. The same video is being falsely spread by claiming it to be Yogi Adityanath’s.
What is going viral
Facebook page Uday India uploaded a video on November 7 claiming that Yogi Adityanath is riding a bulldozer.
Investigation
Vishvas News first extracted several key frames of the viral video in the name of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to investigate it. Then searched them using Google Lens. This Marathi news item on a local news website said that Pimpale, the BJP candidate from Murtijapur in Akola district, was seen on a bulldozer with Yogi’s lookalike.
Similarly, a viral video was also found on the YouTube channel of ABP Majha. It was used in a report to show that the BJP candidate campaigned with a lookalike of Yogi Adityanath. This video report was uploaded on November 6.
Vishwas News furthered the investigation and contacted BJP’s IT and social media cell member Shashi Kumar. He confirmed that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is not in the video.
In the end, the user who posted the fake post was investigated. It was found that this page named Uday India is operated from Delhi. More than 3,000 users follow it.
Conclusion: Vishvas News’s investigation revealed that the person seen in the bulldozer is not Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath but his lookalike. The video from Maharashtra is being made viral with a false claim.
This story was originally published by Vishvas News, and republished by Deccan Herald as part of the Shakti Collective.