No, Akhilesh Yadav Didn't Tweet About Rebuilding the Babri Masjid

Users have shared a fake screenshot of Yadav's tweet about building the Babri Masjid instead of the Ram Temple.

A screenshot of a fake tweet by Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav is being shared on social media to claim that Yadav promised to rebuild the Babri Masjid at the same spot where the Ram Temple is now constructed, if he comes to power after the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections.

However, we found that the screenshot is that of a fake tweet and the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh did not tweet any such text.

CLAIM

The screenshot of the tweet from Akhilesh Yadav's official Twitter handle carries text in Hindi, which reads:

"उत्तर प्रदेश में अगर हमारी सरकार बनेगी, तो हम अपने मुस्लिम भाइयो से ये वादा करते है, कि बाबरी मस्जिद का निर्माण उसी स्थान पर कराएंगे जहा पर आज राम मंदिर का निर्माण हो रहा है|"

[Translation: If we come to power in Uttar Pradesh, we promise our Muslim brothers that the Babri Masjid will be built at the same spot where the Ram Temple is being constructed today.]

The screenshot has been shared with different text by various users, expressing disdain for Yadav.

The claim has been shared by social media users on Facebook and Twitter, and the archived version of the posts can be seen here, here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

Since the display of the tweet in the viral screenshot is very similar to the one seen on Android phones, we took a screenshot of the mobile view on an Android device of another tweet from Akhilesh Yadav's verified Twitter handle.

On comparing the two, we noticed a very slight difference in the alignment of text.

Next, we looked for tweets by Akhilesh Yadav on webpage archiving services such as Archive.is and Wayback Machine. We couldn't locate an archive version of the tweet.

Further, we went through the former CM's Twitter timeline to look for past tweets regarding the Babri Masjid and Ram Temple. We found no tweets against the construction of the temple or in support of the Babri Masjid.

We found a tweet dated 9 November, 2019 where Yadav appeared to be in favour of the Supreme Court's judgement that was announced the same day. In his tweet, he said that decisions that reduce distances help improve people.

जो फ़ैसले फ़ासलों को घटाते हैं
वो इंसा को बेहतर इंसा बनाते हैं

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 9, 2019

In the past, Yadav has been quoted by various media outlets as saying that after the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is completed, he would visit 'Ram lalla' to pay respects with his wife and children.

अयोध्या में अखिलेश यादव बोले- जब राम मंदिर बनेगा पत्नी-बच्चों संग करूंगा दर्शन, भगवान विष्णु के जितने अवतार हैं हम सभी को मानते हैं, कहा- परिक्रमा मार्ग पर पारिजात के वृक्ष सबसे पहले समाजवादी सरकार में लगे@yadavakhilesh @samajwadiparty #Rammandir pic.twitter.com/5hd9QpgGjT

— NBT Uttar Pradesh (@UPNBT) December 15, 2020

Further, we found no news reports on the same. It is unlikely that the former chief minister would have made a statement like this and no news organisation would have reported on it.

Evidently, the screenshot of a tweet by Akhilesh Yadav promising 'Muslim brothers' that the Babri Masjid would be constructed at the site of the under-construction Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is fake. The SP leader did not tweet what the screenshot claims.

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