It has been seen that a lot of quotations attributing to former president Pranab Mukherjee have been doing the rounds on social media since the release of his autobiography “The Coalition Years” in October 2017. However, the frequency of its circulation has increased since the day Pranab Mukherjee accepted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) invitation to attend its event in Nagpur. While there have been mixed views from both, within the Congress party and outside, about Mukherjee accepting the invitation, but spreading fake news is outright wrong.
Let’s have a look at three such dubious statements ascribed to the former president:
- “I am not a slave like Manmohan Singh”
An image carrying a picture of Pranab Mukherjee along with a quote has been widely circulated on social media. The quote is, “मैं मनमोहन की तरह गुलाम नहीं हूं मुझे जो ठीक लग रहा है मैं वह कर रहा हूं आज भारत को RSS जैसे संगठन की आवश्यकता है (I am not a slave like Manmohan Singh. I am doing what I consider to be right. Today, India needs an organisation like the RSS).
The image has been widely shared on Facebook by groups and individuals as well.
A logo can be seen at the bottom right of the image ‘Poster Maker’ which is a picture-based application.
- “Sonia Gandhi hates Hindus”
Another quote which has been doing the rounds is, ““सोनिया गांधी करती हैं हिंदुओं से नफरत” (Sonia Gandhi hates Hindus).
The claim has appeared on some dubious Hindi online publications. It claims that Mukherjee has written about it in his book “The Coalition Years” that UPa chairperson Sonia Gandhi took numerous anti-Hindu decisions during the reign of UPA-I and UPA-II.
- “Congress perceived as anti-national outfit, will be finished in 2019”
Another statement ascribed to Mukherjee is “कांग्रेस की छवि अब देशद्रोही संगठन की, कांग्रेस का 2019 में सर्वनाश तय” (Congress’ image is of an anti-national organisation now, Congress’ decimation is 2019 is certain)
This again, has been widely circulated on social media and has been shared y groups having large number of followers.
Alt News, which initiated the step to bust this fake news, contacted the office of former president Pranab Mukherjee, which denied both the first and third statement mentioned in the article above. As for the second statement claiming that Sonia Gandhi hates Hindus, they said that “The Coalition Years” is in public domain and does not carry any such references.
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