A graphic is going viral with a claim that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Andhra Pradesh president Daggubati Purandeswari recently said that the Muslim reservation in the state will be revoked if the party comes in power.
What do the viral posts say?: The graphic, purportedly published by ABN Telugu, was shared with a caption when translated to English said, "Abolish Muslim reservation as soon as alliance comes to power: Purandeswari. In the past, YSR illegally provided 4 percent reservation: Purandeswari."
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
We received a query about the viral graphic on our WhatsApp tipline as well. You can view archives of similar posts here, here, and here.
Are these claims true?: No, there is no evidence to claim that Purandeswari had indeed made such a claim.
ABN Telugu clarified that that the viral graphic is "fake" and that they had not published it.
BJP's Andhra Pradesh official X handle, too, dismissed the viral claim
How did we find that out?: We went through the official YouTube channel of ABN Telugu and came across a video, which talked about the viral graphic.
The video was published on 9 April and was titled, "Fake news on Purendeswari in the name of ABN ..! Case registration...! | Fake News On Purendeswari | ABN Telugu."
In the video, one can find the same graphic as the viral one which was labelled as "fake news" by the organisation.
A similar news about Purandeswari announcing that BJP, in alliance with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP), will abolish the reservation given to Muslims in the state was attributed to online portal Way2News.
However, the portal dismissed the claims of publish such a report and said that some people have fabricated their format to spread misinformation.
BJP dismissed the viral claim: The party's official X handle for Andhra Pradesh called the viral claim of Purandeswari talking about revoking reservations for Muslims "fake."
The post was shared on 9 April and was uploaded with a caption that loosely translated to, "With the fear of defeat and the experience of selling cheap liquor, Bulugu Party is creating fake campaigns and fake letters."
No news reports or information available: Team WebQoof performed a keyword search on Google but did not find any news report which talked about Purandeswari making remarks against Muslims reservations in Andhra Pradesh.
According to a report in The Hindu, the BJP leader condemned a fake report claiming that she expressed her intention to cancel the Muslim reservations if the BJP-TDP-JSP alliance comes to power in the state.
The report was published on 9 April 2024.
(Source: The Hindu/Screenshot)
Conclusion: It is evident a fake graphic is being shared to claim that BJP Andhra Pradesh President said that the party will revoke Muslim reservations in the state if their alliance came to power.
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