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| - Fact Check: Did Akhilesh Yadav perform shradh for his living father? Bday photo shared with false claims
The man in the photo is not Akhilesh but an SP worker called Manish Yadav. He confirmed that this photo was taken at an event organised by party workers on Mulayam's birthday in 2021.
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India Today Fact Check
The man in the photo is not Akhilesh but an SP worker called Manish Yadav. He confirmed that this photo was taken at an event organised by party workers on Mulayam’s birthday in 2021.
Pitru Paksha or Shradh, a 15-day period where Hindus pay obeisance to the departed souls of their ancestors, started on September 10 this year and ended on September 25. As per Hindu beliefs, the ritual of shradh helps ancestors' souls attain moksha or salvation.
Shradh, however, is never performed for the living. Which makes it especially odd that many on social media claimed that Akhilesh Yadav did just that. A photo being widely shared online shows a man in a white kurta-pyjama, red cap, and a black Nehru jacket offering what looks like food to a photo of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. People claimed that the man was Akhilesh Yadav and that he was performing his living father’s shradh.
AFWA’s investigation found that the man in the viral photo is an SP member called Manish Yadav - not Akhilesh Yadav. The archived versions of such tweets can be seen here and here.
AFWA Probe
This photo was widely shared last year as well. At the time, AFWA fact-checked it.
The viral photo was tweeted by ANI on November 22, 2021. It read: “Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) workers perform 'havan' and cut a cake at the party office to celebrate party's founder-patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday today.” Of the four photos in the tweet, none featured Akhilesh Yadav.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) workers perform 'havan' and cut a cake at the party office to celebrate party's founder-patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday today. pic.twitter.com/dgO9qqFevq — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 22, 2021
It was shared by an SP worker called Manish Yadav.
@yadavakhilesh @MediaCellSP @dimpleyadav @SamajwadiParty_ pic.twitter.com/5AiT1qouIk — Manish Yadav (@my1manish) November 22, 2021
Last year, when AFWA contacted Manish, he confirmed that it was him in the viral photo and not Akhilesh Yadav. He added that on the birthday of Mulayam Singh Yadav, “we performed a havan for his longevity and good health. Since it is difficult to call a big leader like Mulayam Singh, we used his photo in the havan.”
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birthday was also celebrated at SP headquarters in Lucknow on November 22, 2021. Akhilesh Yadav had shared photos of this event from his verified Twitter account, where he can be clearly seen offering cake to his father.
, , ! pic.twitter.com/qkxP4U2deH — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 22, 2021
Thus, it is more than clear that Akhilesh Yadav was not performing shradh for his living father. He was not in the photo at all.
Also Read | Fact Check: Woman with Rahul Gandhi is NOT Amulya Leona, student who chanted ‘Pak Zindabad’ in 2020
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