By Shefali Srivastava
A fake letter claiming that Prashant Kishor, the chief of the Jan Suraaj organisation, has been appointed as the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being shared on social media. Kishor's office confirmed to BOOM that the letter is fake, and Jan Suraaj also denied the claim on X.
Recently, in an interview, Kishor had claimed that the BJP could get around 300 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Kishor has faced flak for this statement from the opposition. Kishor posted on Instagram referencing his interview with journalist Karan Thapar and wrote, 'Drinking water is good because it keeps both the mind and the body hydrated. Those who are upset with my assessment of the result of this election should keep plenty of water with them on June 4. Remember May 2, 2021 and Bengal.'
The viral letter states that BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda appointed Prashant Kishor as the National Chief Spokesperson of the BJP. The letter reads, "BJP National President Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Shri Prashant Kishor as the National Chief Spokesperson of BJP. This appointment comes into immediate effect."
A Facebook user shared the letter with the caption, "Congratulations to the hypocrite Prashant Kishor of Jan Suraaj movement... he had set out to change Bihar, but he himself changed... he has reached where he had started from..."
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral letter is fake and Prashant Kishor has not joined the BJP. We did not find any credible news reports on the viral letter after running a Google search with relevant keywords.
Kishor's Jan Suraaj's X handle refuted the viral letter and accused Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh of sharing it.
Jan Suraaj X handle tagged the Delhi Police along with handles of Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh and wrote, "Look at the irony, Congress, Rahul Gandhi, you all talk about fake news and claim to be victims of it. Now see for yourself how Congress's communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh, a senior leader, is personally sharing a fake document." Along with this, the post included a screenshot of a WhatsApp message which appears to show that the letter has been sent by Jairam Ramesh.
BOOM could not independently verify this screenshot.
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BOOM reached out to Harshvardhan Singh from Prashant Kishor's office who rubbished the claim and stated that the letter is fake.
"Prashant Kishor has no connection with the Bharatiya Janata Party. His entire focus is on strengthening the mission of Jan Suraaj," Singh said. He further said, "Jan Suraaj has denied the news of Prashant Kishor joining BJP through its official X handle. Such misinformation is being spread by Congress' Jairam Ramesh."
The viral letter also contains the signature of BJP's national general secretary Arun Singh. BOOM also reached out to Singh's office who confirmed that the viral letter was fake.
