Fact Check: Did Akhilesh Yadav not pay tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee after his demise?
A post related to former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended Akhilesh Yadav's wedding, but he did not pay his tributes to the former prime minister after his death.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 29 Nov 2021 1:36 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A post related to former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended Akhilesh Yadav's wedding, but he did not pay his tributes to the former prime minister after his death.
Fact Check
The claim is False.
NewsMeter began its investigation by performing a keyword search, which directed us to a post on August 17, 2018, on the Facebook page of 'Samajwadi Party'. A set of images were shared where Akhilesh Yadav was seen paying tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee after his demise.
"National President, Akhilesh Yadav Ji paying tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji after paying his last respects to his body and expressing condolences to the bereaved family members at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji," read the caption of the post.
The team then found a tweet by Akhilesh Yadav on August 17, 2018, where he shared two images. In the first image, Akhilesh Yadav is seen paying his tributes and respects to Atal Bihar Vajpayee. In the second picture, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is seen at the wedding of Akhilesh Yadav.
Sharing these images, former CM tweeted, "Atal Ji raised politics above party politics, always taught to stick to the principles and philosophy of his party, whenever politics strayed, showed him the right path, taught him the lesson of friendship with foreign countries. The passing of Atal Ji is the silence of the vocal voices of Indian politics and the literary world. Silent respect!"
The fact-checking team searched for some reports and videos related to Yadav arriving at the residence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A report by The Times of India dated August 22, 2018, stated that Akhilesh Yadav along with his father Mulayam Singh paid their tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and condolence to his family.
Akhilesh Yadav's wedding photograph where Atal Bihari Vajpayee blessed the couple was also shared in a report by NDTV on August 17, 2018. It was titled, 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee Funeral Highlights: Former PM Cremated, Thousands Pay Tributes'.
The team lastly found a video aired on the Facebook page 'Dynamite News Hindi' on August 17, 2018. In the video, Akhilesh Yadav is seen leaving the residence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee after paying his tribute. The caption of the post had also read, "National President of Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav leaves the residence after paying his tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Akhilesh Yadav was also accompanied by Dharmendra Yadav, ex-member of Parliament and a member of Samajwadi party".
It is therefore evident that the viral claim is False. Akhilesh Yadav did visit the residence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee after his demise.
