India TV Fact Check: The alleged screenshot of a news report quoting AAP MP Sanjay Singh as saying that Arvind Kejriwal may slip into a coma** went viral on social media days after BJP's victory in Delhi. However, a fact-check by India TV confirmed that statement was made by Singh in July 2024.
The counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly polls held on February 5 was taken up on February 8. The BJP registered a landslide victory, bagging 48 seats in the 70-member Assembly, marking its return to power in the national capital after 27 years. The Aam Aadmi Party won the remaining 22 seats, whereas the Congress once again failed to open its account.
What is going viral?
On February 9, an Instagram user posted a screenshot of an alleged News 24 report, quoting AAP MP Sanjay Singh as saying that party convenor Arvind Kejriwal might slip into a coma. The text in the screenshot, originally in Hindi, stated: "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal can go into coma: Sanjay Singh."
India TV did investigation
As the screenshot was going viral we decided to investigate the claim. We conducted a Reverse Image Search on the photo and found that multiple users had shared the same screenshot with similar claims on social media.
Interestingly, we noticed that the alleged statement by Singh refers to Kejriwal as 'Chief Minister,' despite his resignation from the post in September 2024. Following his resignation, Atishi took over as Delhi CM while Kejriwal remained in jail.
Noticing this inconsistency, we conducted a customised keyword search on Google and found a report by India Today, dated July 15, 2024, with the headline: "Arvind Kejriwal may slip into coma, says AAP, shreds Tihar Jail report."
"A team of AIIMS doctors has been examining Arvind Kejriwal's health, and they have found out that Kejriwal is losing weight fast and is suffering from hypoglycemia. His blood sugar level dropped below 50 mg/dL five times, which could have caused him to slip into a coma or even resulted in his death, Sanjay Singh claimed," read a section of the report.
Further examining the search results, we also discovered the original X (formerly Twitter) post by News 24, uploaded on July 15, 2024.
This confirmed that an old and unrelated statement by Sanjay Singh was being circulated on social media as recent, accompanied by a false claim.
What came out in fact check?
A fact check conducted by India TV has confirmed that that the alleged statement was made by Singh in July 2024, when Kejriwal was lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and has no relation to the recent Assembly polls in Delhi. People are advised to remain cautious and not believe such misleading claims circulating on social media.
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