BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut with gangster Abu Salem? Know the truth

The person in the viral image with Kangana Ranaut is not gangster Abu Salem but entertainment journalist Mark Manuel.

Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh will go to the polls in June as the final and seventh phase of the 2024 general election. The date of voting is June 1. Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is making her political debut by contesting elections in her hometown of Mandi as a BJP candidate.

In this scenario, an image of Kangana Ranaut with a man is being circulated on social media with the claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader posed for a photograph with gangster Abu Salem. 

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Fact Check- 

By performing a reverse image search on Google, we found an article published on the Huffington Post.in website on September 2017, written by Mark Manuel and in this news he is seen with Kangana Ranaut, which went viral on social media with false claims. According to the website, Mark Manuel is a senior journalist known for interviewing celebrities.

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Upon further search, found the same image uploaded on Mark Manuel’s Facebook page on 15 September, 2017. The description of the image states that the picture is from a dine-in restaurant in Khar where a champagne brunch was organised to celebrate Kangana’s film Simran. 

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When comparing this viral image to one of Abu Salem’s, we can see that the two persons bear no physical resemblance.

On 1 October 2023, Kankana Ranaut had also clarified through Twitter that the person next to her was not gangster Abu Salem but journalist Mark Manuel. The tweet states “I don’t believe congress people really think he is the dreaded gangster Abu Salem hanging out with me casually in a Mumbai bar. He is ex TOI entertainment editor his name is Mark Manuel “.

Taking account of these evidences, we can say that the viral image shows film journalist Mark Manuel with actress Kangana Ranaut and not underworld don Abu Salem.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be False. The person in the viral image with Kangana Ranaut is not gangster Abu Salem but entertainment journalist Mark Manuel.