Fact Check: Morphed photo shows Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader Bhagwat Mann outside liquor store

The viral image was also tweeted by JDU leader Ajay Alok on 17 January 2022.

A similar image was also shared by a Facebook user.

Fact Check

The claim is false.

NewsMeter performed a Google reverse image search which led us to a report published by The Tribune on 14 January 2022. It had published a similar photograph of the two leaders sitting in front of what appears to be fields and not a liquor store. The report said, "Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and party's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann met some farmers in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's constituency Chamkaur Sahib. In a short video of the meeting released by the party on Friday, Kejriwal and Mann are seen sitting on a cot placed in the mustard fields and interacting with some farmers." The photo is a screenshot of the said video.

With Punjab scheduled to go to polls on 14 February, the AAP is eyeing to wrest power from the ruling Congress, the report said. "Kejriwal was on a two-day visit to the northern state…during which he also campaigned door-to-door, ruled himself out of the race as the party's CM face, as the AAP launched its 'Janta Chunegi Apna CM' drive a day earlier and said the name of the candidate for the top post will be announced after getting the feedback of people," the report further said.

Taking a cue from this, the team performed a keyword search on YouTube which led us to a video uploaded on the Aam Aadmi Party's YouTube channel on 14 January 2022. In the video, both Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwat Mann can be seen talking to farmers. The viral image can be seen at the 0:10-second mark.

NewsMeter compared the viral image with the original visuals and found that the viral image was morphed.

Hence, the claim made through the viral post is false. The image of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Bhagwat Mann has been edited.