(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 18 January 2022 and is being republished from The Quint’s archives in the light of the image circulating after the arrest of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the liquor excise policy case.)
A photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Bhagwant Mann sitting in front of a liquor shop is being widely shared on social media taking a dig at the party ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab.
The photo is being shared days before AAP is expected to announce its chief ministerial candidate for the state polls.
But the photo is edited. The original photo shows Kejriwal and Mann seated in a mustard farm, where they interacted with farmers and villagers in Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab's Rupnagar.
CLAIM
Sharing the photograph, Secretary of BJP Delhi Impreet Singh Bakshi wrote that the two are sitting at the right place.
The photo was also shared by BJP Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal and the verified account of Punjab Youth Congress.
Archives of more such claims on social media can be seen here, here and here.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We conducted a reverse image search on the photo, and came across a tweet by a member of AAP's national social media team, which showed CM Kejriwal and Mann in what appeared to be a field.
Using keywords such as 'Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann in field,' we found a news report by The Tribune, which carried the same image as the tweet.
As per the report, Kejriwal and Mann had visited incumbent Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's constituency, Chamkaur Sahib and interacted with farmers and asked them about their lives and livelihoods.
It also noted that the image was a screen grab of a video shared by the party. We looked for the video and found one uploaded to the Aam Aadmi Party's verified YouTube channel.
At the 20-seconds mark, both leaders can be seen seated in the same position as seen in the viral, morphed photo.
Here's a slider to show how the image was manipulated.
Evidently, a photo of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MLA Bhagwant Mann was morphed to show them seated in front of a liquor shop, ahead of the upcoming polls in Punjab.
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