Fact Check: Morphed Picture of Bhagwant Mann Going Viral With Fake Claim

Vishvas News (New Delhi): A morphed picture of Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann is going viral on social media. As per the claim made with the post, when liquor shops opened after the lockdown last year, Bhagwant Mann was seen consuming alcohol.

Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found it to be fake. In the past, this picture went viral with different fake claims. Vishvas News investigated the post earlier as well.

Claim

Facebook user Gagan Kaur, while uploading the edited picture of Bhagwant Mann on March 17, wrote in Punjabi: “When liquor shops opened the first day after lockdown.”

The archived version of the Facebook post can be seen here.

Investigation

Vishvas News investigated the viral photo using the Google reverse image tool. We found the original picture on a Facebook account. Facebook user Sukhvir Brar posted this picture on May 27, 2020. We could not see a liquor store anywhere in the picture. You can see the original picture here. In this picture, Bhagwant Mann can be seen drinking water from a pot.

We found this picture on the Facebook page called Aam Aadmi Party Youth. It was posted on May 9, 2019.

Vishvas News conducted compared both the pictures. It can be clearly seen that behind the original picture of Bhagwant Mann, the picture of liquor bottles is pasted separately.

Vishvas News contacted Aam Aadmi Party. Harshit Pai, media manager of Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab, told us that the viral image of Bhagwant Mann is fake. It went viral with the fake claim earlier as well.

We scanned the profile of the Facebook page Gagan Kaur who shared the viral post. We found that the page was created on July 21, 2017.