A viral photograph of Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman supporting the Bhartiya Janata Party in the ongoing Indian elections, has turned out to be fake.
The funny thing here? Its another guy and not the pilot who became famous after being captured by Pakistan.
Fake news is a big problem. And apparently some people think its Abhinandan in the photo. And who can blame them? This look-alike actually took advantage of WC Abhinandan’s five minutes of fame.
https://twitter.com/nitin_raj1989/status/1117458856546668546
In reality, the serviceman Abhinandan has not endorsed anyone in the upcoming elections. Not even the reigning BJP.
Fake News and Fake Imposter
https://twitter.com/SUNNYTAMAK/status/1117081746653237248
The viral social media post claims that that the IAF pilot supports Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.
The photograph was merely of a man with Abhinandan’s trademark gunslinger mustache and a BJP pin. Unfortunately, this post was circulated wide and far, urging people to vote for BJP.
https://twitter.com/SUNNYTAMAK/status/1117082050434146305
A Violation of Campaign Rules
Interestingly, the Indian Election Commission had prohibited politicians from using WC Abhinandan’s photographs for promoting their election campaigns.
“The Commission is of the view that photographs of chief of army staff or any other defence personnel and photographs of functions of defence forces should not be associated with or used in any manner in advertisement/propaganda/campaigning or in any other manner in connection with elections by political parties and candidates”.
Looks like BJP found a way around that open campaigning ban by politicizing the military. Resultantly, the IAF pilot’s image is being used in just about everything.
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From marketing to costumes for a religious rally, they’ve left no stone unturned:
Now see the craze of #ArtificialIntelligence , #AbhinandanVarthaman at #RamNavmi Shobha Yatra !!
Jai Shree Ram !! @narendramodi @BJP4India pic.twitter.com/c9VxpwOoQE
— Dhananjay Kumar Singh (@smartcloudcity) April 15, 2019
We’re not sure whether this stunt could end up bringing more votes for the ruling party in India, or result in its defeat. Politics can be a strange beast sometimes.
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