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| - Fact Check: This is not Subramanian Swamy attending Opposition leaders' meeting
A photo from a media briefing held by Opposition leaders was shared on social media with the claim that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy attended the meeting and has joined the Opposition. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim along with the image is false.
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India Today Fact Check
The man in the image is Congress leader Manish Chatrath, who is currently the AICC in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
A few days ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai took a dig at senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy calling him a "freelance politician" for his alleged comments against his own party and its leadership.
Now, a photo from a media briefing held by Opposition leaders was shared on social media by BJP Delhi spokesperson claiming that Swami attended the briefing, indicating that he had officially joined the Opposition.
Many Opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, can also be seen in the photo.
Tajinder tweeted the image and wrote, “Congratulations @Swamy39 Ji for your officially Joining (sic).”
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim along with the image is false. Congress leader Manish Chatrath has confirmed to India Today that the man in the brown jacket is him and not Swamy.
AFWA PROBE
With the help of a reverse search of the image, we found a clearer version of the same image on Getty Images credited to Hindustan Times’ photographer Arvind Yadav.
According to Getty Images, the image is from a press conference held by Opposition parties at Parliament House Annexe on December 10, 2018, in New Delhi. The press briefing was held after a meeting to discuss the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
We searched for media reports about this meeting but couldn’t find any mention of Swamy in any of those reports.
According to reports, 21 Opposition parties had attended the meeting, while Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) skipped the meeting.
We also checked for video reports of the same press meet and found the same man in the brown jacket moving around behind the Opposition leaders.
Comparing these videos and a zoomed-in version of the image obtained from Getty Images, it became clear that though the man looked like Swamy from a distance, a closer look at his profile looks very different from the BJP leader. The man in the viral image can be seen wearing glasses, but Swami is seen without glasses in almost all the images and videos of him available online.
Taking a cue from all these we contacted Pranav Jha, AICC media secretary who confirmed that the man in the brown jacket is Manish Chatrath.
Jha was also present at the meeting. He also said that Chatrath is currently the AICC in charge of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
We reached out to Chatrath, who confirmed to us that the man in the image is indeed him. “The man in the image in question is me. I still remember that meeting which was held in the Parliament. That time I was the AICC secretary in charge of Administration,” he said.
Comparing images of Chatrath with the one in question, we can clearly see that the man in the viral image is Chatrath himself.
Rajya Sabha MP and former Defence Minister of India A K Antony, who was also present at the meeting, confirmed that Swami was not present anywhere around on that day.
WHERE WAS SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY ON DECEMBER 10, 2018?
On December 10, 2018, Urjit Patel resigned as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India citing "personal reasons". According to reports, Patel’s resignation came amid tensions between the RBI and the Finance Ministry.
We found that Swamy had given a video interview to ANI on the matter on December 10, 2018. In this video, Swamy can be seen sitting in his office.
It is thus clear that the man in the viral image is not Subramanian Swamy, but Congress leader Manish Chatrath.
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