New York Times clarified that the image is edited and they have not reported anything as such. The image is shared mocking Arvind Kejriwal’s recent roadshow in Gujarat.
After winning in Punjab, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann held a massive roadshow in Nikol, Ahmedabad on 2 April 2022. In the backdrop of this massive rally, a screenshot of a news purportedly published by the New York Times is circulating on social media. The headline of the article read, “Aam Aadmi Party sets world record of gathering highest number of people in a political rally.” The sub-headline mentions, “25 crores people attended Arvind Kejriwal’s rally in Gujarat after his landslide win in Punjab Election.”
Though the screenshot appears satirical given the unrealistic exaggeration, many users have shared it thinking The New York Times has indeed published such a report.
The claim in Hindi states “गुजरात की जनसंख्या है लगभग 6.5 करोड़ New York Times के हिसाब से कल केजरीवाल की रैली में आये 25 करोड़ लोग बाकी बातें छोड़ो NYT वालो, ये बताओ कि माल कौन सा फूंकते हो??”
Translation: The total population of Gujarat is 6.5crores. As per New York Times, yesterday 25 crores attended Kejriwal’s rally! Can someone tell me what does NYT smoke?
Fact Check-
We started our investigation by running a keyword search on New York Times’ website to find news report related to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, we could not find any similar news report on their website. The last article related to AAP was published by 10 March.
We also went to the E-paper of the New York Times International edition published on 2 April. However, we could not find the same news report. The news was also not available on NYT India Edition online.
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Next, we came across a tweet by Indian journalist Rana Ayyub who called out the viral image as Fake and mentioned that an international publication will never use the word “crore” in their news report.
Replying to Rana Ayyub’s Tweet New York Times Communications tweeted that the image is not a real one. The New York Times did not write or publish that story. They wrote that the image was created as a mockery.
The tweet mentioned, “The screenshot in that tweet is a mocked up image. The New York Times did not write or publish that story. Our coverage can be found at http://nytimes.com/spotlight/india.”
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the image on social media to be False and the image is digitally altered. The New York Times did not publish an article stating that AAP held the largest gathering of people at a political rally setting it as the highest record in the world. The digitally edited image has been created to mock the rally held by AAP in Ahmedabad recently.
Title:Edited Screenshot Shared To Claim NYT Reported AAP’s Gujarat Rally as the Biggest Ever in the world
Fact Check By: Drabanti GhoshResult: False
