‘Congress MLA Anil Upadhyay’ Returns: This Time, to ‘Support Modi’
A video went viral falsely claimed Congress MLA Anil Upadhyay ‘supported’ the achievements of Modi-government.
A viral clip shows a man, clad in back vest above a white shit, raving about the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The video has been shared along with a message, which reads: “🖕कोंग्रेस विधायक अनिल उपाध्याय की इस हरकत पर क्या कहेगे राहुल जी, इस video को इतना वायरल करो की ये पूरा हिन्दुस्तान देख सके..”
(Translated: “What will Congress President Rahul Gandhi say at his MLA Anil Upadhyay's behaviour. Make this video so viral that whole of India sees it.")
The Quint received multiple queries on WhatsApp, and the video had been shared on Facebook as well with the same claim.
Not Anil Upadhyay, But Mohan Pandey
The man in the video has been identified as Munna Pandey, aka Mohan Pandey, by entrepreneur Tanmay Shankar, in a video posted by him on 10 April.
The same clip, which is now viral, was tweeted by Shankar, who is also followed by Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Piyush Goyal's office's official twitter handle.
Shankar has tweeted multiple videos of this Pandey often.
In every clip, Shankar has identified the man as Munna Pandey, or Mohan Pandey.
When The Quint reached out to Shankar, he clarified that the man in the video is indeed Mohan Pandey and is known to him personally. He also stated that Pandey is not connected to any political party, and he works for a private firm.
Meanwhile, Mohan Pandey too shares his videos on his Facebook page, which can be accessed here.
Not the First Fake Claim
This is not the first time Pandey's videos have gone viral with a false name. Earlier, one of his videos went viral misidentifying him as DCP Crime, Delhi Police.
Who Is Anil Upadhyay and Why Is His Name Frequently Viral?
There have been multiple videos that have alleged Congress MLA Anil Upadhyay’s involvement in viral videos.
Claim 1:
"ये है कमलनाथ की काँग्रेस सरकार का विधायक अनिल उपाध्याय जो पुलिस कर्मचारी को पीट रहा है देश की राष्ट्रभक्त समाज पुलिस के द्वारा ही ऐसे विधायक को जल्दी सजा दुलवाने के लिए सोशल मीडिया पर पहल करेगी । 😡😡"
The man actually involved in the video was BJP councillor in Meerut Manish Panwar.
Claim 2:
A recent polling booth capturing video from Bengal also carried his name falsely. The viral video said The viral video has been circulating with the caption “कोंग्रेस विधायक अनिल उपाध्याय की इस हरकत पर क्या कहेगे राहुल जी, इस video को इतना वायरल करो की ये पूरा हिन्दुस्तान देख सके..” (How will Rahul react to Congress MLA Anil Upadhyay’s action? Make this video viral so that entire India can see it.)
The video was actually from West Bengal's Islampur and the man in the video was a TMC worker Md Sominuddin.
On checking on MyNeta, no Congress MLA Anil Upadhyay was found. The search showed up only three Anil Upadhyays, two whom are independent legislators, and the third is associated with the BSP.
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