Aam Aadmi Party named Bhagwant Mann as its Chief Ministerial candidate for upcoming Punjab elections. Subsequently, a screengrab started doing rounds on social media platforms with a claim that AAP leader Raghav Chadha made a demeaning statement about Mann in a press conference.
A Twitter user shared the image with a caption in Hindi that roughly translates to, “Bhagwant Mann is addicted to alcohol, yet the Aam Aadmi Party declared him the chief ministerial candidate in Punjab. In this regard, the Aam Aadmi Party member @raghav_chadha said, “Iron cuts iron, the same way, a drunkard eliminates drug addiction.”
(Original: भगवंत मान को शराब की जबरदस्त लत है, फिर भी आम आदमी पार्टी ने उन्हें पंजाब में मुख्यमंत्री उम्मीदवार घोषित किया। इस बारे में आम आदमी पार्टी सदस्य @raghav_chadha ने कहा, “लोहा लोहे को काटता है, वैसे ही शराबी नशे को खत्म करेगा”)
The same image is also being shared by several Facebook users.
The screengrab appears to be from ABP News channel and an inverted ABP News logo and ’18 Jan—10:11′ can be seen on the time stamp.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found it to be fake.
We performed a relevant keyword search but did not find any credible report about Chadha making this statement.
We also checked ABP’s YouTube channel thoroughly and found the news bulletin whose morphed screengrab is now going viral.
The video report was uploaded on January 18, 2022, and was focused on whether Bhagwant Mann would the chief ministerial candidate for AAP in Punjab.
In the show, Chadha can be seen wearing the same attire. However, the viral statement was nowhere in the report and neither did ABP flash the ticker visible in the viral graphic.
Therefore, it can be concluded that an edited screengrab of the ABP news report falsely attributing a statement to Raghav Chadha is viral.
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