CLAIM
A letter claimed to have been written by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Murli Manohar Joshi addressed to LK Advani with the news agency ANI’s watermark has gone viral on social media.
The letter states that the BJP will not be able to score even 120 seats.
“BJP will get barely 8-10 seats in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 which was held on 91 constituencies of 20 states.”
The letter also says although Joshi was under immense pressure to join Samajwadi Party or Bahujan Samaj Party, he could not leave his home (BJP), however, he was later thrown out of the same house after being insulted.
“Explosive ! Murli Manohar Joshi's letter creates an earthquake within BJP ranks. #bjplosing#ChowkidarChorHai,” one user tweeted.
In the letter, Joshi seems to say that his and Advani’s silence is betrayal to the people of the country.
“Peechli bhethek me aapne mujhe chup kara dia, agli bethak me aapko chup kara dunga lekin kya hum dono ki ye chupi humare desh ki janata k saath dhokha nahi?” (You silenced me in the previous meeting, I will silence you in the next, but isn’t it betrayal to people of the country?)
FACT
The letter was fake. The news agency ANI later confirmed that no such letter exists.
“Statement: Screenshots of BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi statement on his letter head is circulating on WhatsApp and Twitter with an ANI watermark. No such letter exists. This is fake,” ANI clarified in its tweet.
The fake letter even carried Joshi’s fake signature and ANI’s watermark on the letterhead.
Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday, 14 April, wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora seeking a probe into the fake letter, ANI reported.
Many people even before ANI’s statement had asked for the validity of the letter and if it had really been written by Murli Manohar Josh.
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