Featured Image: The post with the fake news making the rounds on social media
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has faced numerous criticisms and major setbacks in the Punjab local body elections following the farmers’ protests against the agricultural laws enacted by the Centre last year. The Congress won in all the seven municipalities in Punjab. Following that, a post is currently going viral on social media.
The post contained a photo that said that three BJP MLAs from Punjab have joined the Congress and now, Punjab has become a BJP-free state. The photo, which was posted on Facebook, said, “Punjab has now become a non-BJP state as all the three BJP MLAs in Punjab have joined the INC.”
After this news broke out, India Today has found that all these allegations are fake. There are currently two BJP MLAs in Punjab who have confirmed that they are still in the BJP. Moreover, the BJP MLAs in Punjab were not mentioned in any press release as having joined the Congress.
The official website of the Punjab Legislative Assembly also says that there are two BJP MLAs in the state, Arun Narang and Dinesh Singh.
Commenting on the allegations, Arun Narang said, “There is no basic truth in this news. Initially, there were only two BJP MLAs in Punjab. There were three in the 2017 elections. However, Som Prakash resigned and contested the 2019 elections.”
Dinesh Singh, the other BJP MLA from Punjab, said, “I have been an MLA in Punjab three times and even now I am in the BJP. All the allegations that I have joined the Congress are false.”
The Congress in Punjab has also denied the claims, saying no BJP MLAs have joined the Congress. So it is completely false news that the three accused Punjab BJP MLAs, who are currently going viral, have joined the Congress.”
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