A screenshot of a news graphic claiming that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath threatened to join the Samajwadi Party when Amit Shah talked about replacing him as the chief minister, is fake.
The assembly election is going to be held in Uttar Pradesh in 7 phases from February 10, 2022, till March 7, 2022, with the results to be declared on March 10, 2022. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen some high profile defections with four BJP UP MLAs quitting the party recently including state minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who resigned from the cabinet of Adityanath.
The text on the news graphic when translated reads, "Amit Shah spoke about changing the chief minister. Yogi Adityanath threatened to join the SP. Big Breaking: Lucknow- BJP engaged in damage control." A channel named 'K News' logo can be spotted on the viral screenshot.
This is being shared with the caption, "Big Breaking Delhi Amit Shah today talked about changing the candidate for the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on coming to know, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath threatened to join "SP". Inside talk #BJP_clean"
(In Hindi - "बिग ब्रेकिंग दिल्ली अमित शाह ने आज उत्तर प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री पद के प्रत्याशी बदलने की बात की तो पता चलते ही मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ ने दे डाली "सपा" ज्वाइन करने की धमकी अंदर की बात #भाजपा_साफ")
The same screenshot of the news graphic is being widely shared on Facebook.
Also Read:Sambit Patra Targets SP With Photos Of Dilapidated UP Schools From BJP Tenure
FACT-CHECK
BOOM ran a relevant keyword search on Google with the viral text, however, we did not find any credible news report reporting on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath threatening to quit.
We then observed the viral graphic and found the news channel logo 'K news' on the right-hand side of the screenshot. We then found that 'K News' is a news channel based in Kanpur. We did not find any such news report uploaded by K News on its YouTube and Facebook accounts.
BOOM then contacted KL Saini, Senior Producer, K News, who told us that the viral graphic is fake and the channel has never made any such claim. He further said that the graphic has been edited and the text has been added on it.
Below is a comparison of the viral graphic and the original news graphic of K News.