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| - Fact Check: Owaisi plotting UP elections with Irani? No, this is an old photo
A picture of Asaduddin Owaisi with Union minister Smriti Irani is circulating on social media, with the claim that the two met to chalk out their plan for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claims along with the image to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
The picture was taken at a power loom stakeholders’ meeting in August 2016. Both leaders had participated in the meet in Delhi.
Politics in Uttar Pradesh has heated up with the entry of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the electoral arena. Analysts believe Owaisi, a popular Muslim leader, can dent the chances of a number of major political parties in the fray. Elections in UP are scheduled early next year and campaigning is in full swing.
Many Opposition figures have alleged that Owaisi has been propped up by the BJP to eat into minority votes, and thus, aid the saffron camp’s electoral chances. In this context, a picture of Owaisi with Union minister Smriti Irani is circulating on social media with the claim that the two met to chalk out their plan for UP. Owaisi at present is on an electoral tour of the state.
The verified Twitter handle of NSUI national secretary Roshan Lal Bittu also posted the picture with a similar claim.
The archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claims along with the image to be misleading. The picture was taken in 2016 when both leaders participated in a meeting on the powerloom industry.
AFWA probe
We did a reverse search of the picture and found the same image tweeted by a user in 2016 criticising Owaisi for “roaming with BJP leaders”. Interestingly, Owaisi himself had reshared the post clarifying that the picture was shot during a “powerloom stakeholders meeting”.
Why didnt 1 congi MP attend PowerLoom stakeholders meeting whereas I represented problems shows Cong is behal https://t.co/SboO5eBfUI — Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) August 23, 2016
We further searched the Internet and found two images from the meeting tweeted by Owaisi on August 22, 2016. In these images, the two leaders can be seen wearing the same attire as seen in the viral picture.
According to reports, on August 22, 2016, then textile minister Irani had interacted with a large gathering of power loom industry stakeholders, including MPs.
The meeting, which took place in Delhi, is also listed by the textile ministry in its monthly summary for August 2016. Images from the event were tweeted by the Constitution Club of India as well.
Mtng of Powerloom Industry Stakeholders Chaired by .@smritiirani alongwth MPs orgnsd by .@TexMinIndia in Club today pic.twitter.com/TGISxFq074 — Constitution Club of India (@ccoi_1947) August 22, 2016
The same picture was fact-checked by several websites earlier in November 2020 when it went viral ahead of the Hyderabad municipal elections.
Hence, it is clear that the viral picture is over five years old and not related to the upcoming UP elections.
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You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
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