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| - Fact Check: Did AAP MLA Balkar Sidhu criticise his own party? Viral clip is 7 years old
These comments were made by Sidhu seven years ago, following his expulsion from the AAP, right when he was about to join the Congress party.
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India Today Fact Check
The viral video is not recent. This clip of Sidhu is about 7 years old. At the time, he was joining the Congress party.
A video of Phul Balkar Sidhu, a famous Punjabi folk singer and the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Rampura, allegedly denigrating his own party has been widely shared online. In the short clip, he can be heard saying, “They are saying we will clean Punjab with a broom, but the broom will disband on itself. It is my humble request to the people of Punjab, the AAP leaders from UP, Bihar, and Delhi want to control Punjab. If they win, things will become much worse in Punjab.”
“Save Punjab from Aam Aadmi Party. AAP MLA Balkar Sidhu's appeal to Punjab” can be seen written in the video. Sharing the video, a Twitter user wrote, “Punjab AAP vs Delhi AAP, open now.” An archived version of such a claim can be seen here.
India Today found that the video in question is about seven years old. At the time, Sidhu was joining the Congress party.
The video
We noticed the “ABP Sanjha” logo in the video, hinting that this clip was aired by the Punjabi-language news channel owned by the ABP Group. Subsequent searches with relevant keywords led us to a longer version of the video on the official YouTube channel of ABP Sanjha.
The video was shared on February 9, 2016, and was titled in Punjabi: “Balkar Sidhu attacks Aam Aadmi Party”. The viral segment can be viewed between 2 minutes 44 seconds and 3 minutes 15 seconds. As per the information given in the video, the interview was taken just before Sidhu joined the Congress party. ABP Sanjha also shared this video on its Facebook page on February 9, 2016.
Sidhu’s political career
Sidhu was a member of the AAP earlier and was even given a ticket to contest the 2014 Talwandi Sabo assembly by-polls. However, he was later replaced by another candidate, Baljinder Kaur. Subsequently, Sidhu decided to contest elections as an independent candidate and was expelled from the AAP.
He joined the Congress party in February 2016 in the presence of Captain Amarinder Singh, who was a member of Congress at the time.
Five years later, he rejoined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2021 and won from the Rampura Phul in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections.
Thus, it’s clear that the video is being shared out of context. These comments were made by Sidhu seven years ago, following his expulsion from the AAP, right when he was about to join the Congress party.
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