| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Misleading photos of celebrities being used for propaganda
Here's how misleading photos of cricketers and actors are being used for propaganda.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The images are photoshopped and none of the celebrities have joined or recently declared support for the party.
A viral post on the Facebook page 'I Support Modi' made a claim that Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, and Sunny Deol have joined forces with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The post carries a photo collage of the four celebrities, with some donning saffron scarves. The BJP symbols can also be seen in the background of two photos.
The celebrity factor mostly works for political parties during elections, considering their massive fan base.
India Today Fact Check found the claim to be misleading. None of them have joined the BJP yet. Although, Gambhir and Deol have campaigned for the party in 2014.
People believed the viral post and commented on it and calling it "good news". The Facebook post has been shared more than 7,200 times as of now. The page on which it was shared has 18 lakh followers.
The post said, "BJP ke sang hue Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunny Deol and Gautam Gambhir." The first image showed Kohli shaking hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kohli could be seen wearing a saffron-coloured cap and scarf.
When we looked up the photo, we found that it was taken on December 20, 2017. It is from the time when Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma went to invite PM Modi for their wedding reception. In the original photo, Kohli was not wearing any saffron cap or scarf.
#WATCH Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma met PM Narendra Modi today to extend wedding reception invitation. pic.twitter.com/JZBrVLlkEJ ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2017
Even master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's picture has been photoshopped. The second image of Tendulkar, wearing a saffron kurta with BJP's symbol in the background, was clicked on April 24, 2015. Tendulkar had gone to visit the Siddhivinayak temple along with his family on his 42nd birthday. The original photo can be seen on the temple's official website.
The photo of actor Sunny Deol wearing a scarf with the party's lotus symbol all over it was clicked when he was campaigning for BJP candidate Satyapal Singh in Baghpat in 2014.
Former batsman Gautam Gambhir showing a victory sign with the BJP symbol in the background was taken on April 5, 2014, during an election campaign supporting Arun Jaitley. See the original photo here.
Speaking to India Today, Gambhir's manager Dinesh Chopra said he has not joined the BJP. Even Deol's PR team confirmed the news was fake, calling it "baseless"
Though there have been media reports in the past which said Deol and Gambhir may join the BJP, there has been no official announcement made by the party so far.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)