CLAIM
A photo which shows BJP leader Pankaja Munde crying while talking to a reporter is doing the round on the Internet. The photo has been widely shared on social media with the claim that Pankaja broke down post her defeat in the Assembly elections.
The photo surfaced after sitting MLA from the Parli Assembly constituency Pankaja lost to her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The photo was further shared by news agencies IANS and ANI and media outlet NDTV with similar claims. The tweets were later deleted.
A verified YouTube account which goes by the name ‘InKhabhar’ also shared the photo.
An archived version of the video can be seen here.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The Quint found out that the photo is an old one and is being shared with misleading captions. The BJP leader didn’t cry after her defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in fact, she didn’t cry at all.
WHAT WE FOUND
We looked up the key words ‘Pankaja Munde crying’ on Google, which led us to a video dated 21 October in which Munde is discussing her 2019 election campaign with a reporter.
Further, Munde can be heard telling the reporter she was disgusted to see a clip which had surfaced and concerned her, and how she’s finding it difficult to cope with the hate.
Thus, in the video, it can be ascertained that Munde wasn’t crying but expressing disgust over the clip which had surfaced.
Moreover, since the video is from 21 October, we could confirm that the BJP leader did not cry following her poll defeat.
An archived version of the video can be found here.
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