Ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, several social media users are claiming that Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Saayoni Ghosh was allegedly “harassed by her own party members” while she was campaigning in Asansol and that it forced her to run.
However, Ghosh uploaded several visuals on her social media handles that show that she has been running at various instances during her campaign trail on different days. Further, The Quint’s on ground reporter Debayan Dutta, too, confirmed that he saw her running while following one of her campaigns.
CLAIM
Media outlet Opindia published an article on Monday, 22 March, which was headlined as: “Bengal: Actress Saayoni Ghosh, TMC candidate from Asansol, forced to run after being harassed by her own party members”.
Attributing the information to ETV Bharat, the report stated that the TMC candidate was “manhandled by her own party members” while campaigning in Burnpur on Sunday.
Several social media users on Twitter and Facebook shared visuals of ETV Bharat to show how Ghosh was running after being allegedly harassed.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
TMC candidate Saayoni Ghosh had uploaded several visuals of her campaign trail in West Bengal’s Asansol on her social media handles. At 02:39 minutes in the video below, she can be seen running while campaigning.
Further, she can be seen running in another video uploaded to Facebook on Wednesday, 24 March, and was wearing a different attire. The video is captioned as: “My feet my will. (sic)”
Further, media outlet Anandabazar Patrika carried visuals of Ghosh running during her campaign in Asansol.
WHAT DOES SAAYONI HAVE TO SAY?
We accessed Saayoni Ghosh’s press note that carried her reply to the claims doing the round regarding her campaign trail.
“To reach people we don’t only have to walk, we can run as well. All party members – old and young – walk and run to keep pace with one another. I will decide if I want to walk or run. People sitting in Delhi do not control my movement here with a remote control,” the press note stated.
She further said that coverage by some media houses lack “factual news”.
“Didi and our party members have given me complete freedom to campaign in whatever way I like. I find the opposition’s remarks funny. They are not able to find anyone, which is why they are making things up. I was shocked at the coverage by some media houses. There’s a lack of factual/true news (reports),” the press note added.
ON-GROUND REPORTER’S ACCOUNT
The Quint’s Debayan Dutta was on the ground and following her campaign trail on Tuesday, 23 March, in Asansol’s Ningha area.
“She was seen running on several instances during her campaign in the said location. She has enough security around her at all times. Even her party members form a protective circle around her,” he said.
The ETV Bharat article that Opindia refers to in its report does not claim that the TMC candidate was “harassed by her own party members”. The ETV Bharat article and video claims that she got annoyed when the party workers and supporters came close to her.
However, Ghosh’s press note makes no mention of any such claim. Evidently, visuals of Ghosh running during her campaign trail were shared with the false claim that she was “harassed by her own party members”.
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