Congress Accounts Share Photo to Falsely Claim That BJP Gave Owaisi an Award

The photo shows Asaduddin Owaisi receiving the Best Parliamentarian award from former President Ram Nath Kovind.

The photo shows Owaisi at an event where he received an award from former President Ram Nath Kovind.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi holding an award standing next to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi is being shared on social media.

Who shared it and what are they claiming?: The photo was shared by several Congress accounts. (INC Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Youth Congress, and Rajasthan Youth Congress)

An archive of this tweet can be seen here.

But..?: The claim is false.

• The photo shows Owaisi at an event organised by Lokmat, where he received the 'Best Parliamentarian 2022' award from former President Ram Nath Kovind.

How did we find out?: Using relevant keywords, we looked for more information about the event.

• This led us to a news report published by Amar Ujala on 15 March, which mentioned that Owaisi and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien received awards.

• The article's photo showed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge receiving an award from the former President Ram Nath Kovind.

The report mentioned that TMC MP Locket Chatterjee and Congress MP Vandana Chavan also received awards.

• It added that Lokmat News and Deccan Chronicles had honoured Owaisi with the 'Best Parliamentarian' award.

• AIMIM's official Twitter account also shared a tweet about the event, mentioning that Owaisi received the 'Best Parliamentarian 2022' award.

• The party's verified YouTube account shared a video from Lokmat's event.

• Here, one can see Owaisi being handed an award by the former President at the 01:15 mark into the video.

Former President Ram Nath Kovind gave an award to Asaduddin Owaisi.

• Shortly after receiving the award, Owaisi is seen discussing something with Murli Manohar Joshi at the 01:36 mark.

Owaisi and Joshi are seen exchanging a few words in the video.

The Quint's WebQoof team has debunked several claims linking AIMIM and BJP in the past.

Conclusion: AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi was not given an award by the BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi.

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