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| - Fact Check: Why Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived in Parliament on bullock cart
A picture of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on a bullock cart is viral on social media with the claim that he had arrived at the Parliament to protest against the introduction of computers. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the picture was taken more than a decade before Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister.
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India Today Fact Check
Vajpayee had arrived at Parliament on a bullock cart in 1973 to protest rising petrol prices. Indira Gandhi was the PM then. Rajiv Gandhi became PM over a decade later.
A picture of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on a bullock cart is doing the rounds on social media with the claim that this is how he had arrived at the Parliament to protest against the introduction of computers by late former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
Former Indian Air Force pilot and columnist Rajiv Tyagi shared the picture on Facebook with the caption, "Pic shows their 'best', Vajpayee, entering Parliament in a bail-gaadi, to protest Rajiv Gandhi's introduction of computers to India, in furtherance of the permanent Sanghi agenda of medievalizing India..."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the picture was taken more than a decade before Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister. Vajpayee had arrived at the Parliament on a bullock cart in 1973 to protest rising prices of petrol and kerosene. At that time, Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
AFWA probe
Reverse-searching the image, we found another picture with the same elements from the archive of Hindustan Times.
The caption of the picture says, "A 1973 photo of Atal Bihari Vajpayee arriving at Parliament House on a bullock cart to protest against the increase in petrol and kerosene prices."
At that time, Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister over a decade later, in 1984, after her assassination.
The "bullock cart protest" by Vajpayee was widely covered by the Indian media at that time. International publications such as The New York Times had also covered it.
Rajiv Gandhi is credited with computerisation in India. Searching for Vajpayee's stand on the same, we found two speeches wherein he had praised the move. These were his Independence Day speeches in 2002 and 2003.
On August 15, 2003, Vajpayee said in his speech, "Lakhs of young Indians have got attractive employment in the field of computers. Sitting in our cities, they are providing services to hospitals, factories, and offices in various countries. Software exports have zoomed from Rs 8,000 crore to nearly Rs 50,000 crore."
Hence, it is clear that the viral picture of Atal Bihari Vajpayee is being shared on social media with a false claim. The picture was taken in 1973 when he'd arrived at Parliament on a bullock cart to protest rising prices of petrol, and not against Rajiv Gandhi's computerisation.
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