Viral Newspaper Clipping About Siddaramaiah Making Communal Statements Is Fake!

A newspaper clipping in Kannada is being shared on social media platforms to claim that Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) Siddaramaiah said that the Congress does not need Hindu votes.

• The clipping also claimed that Siddaramaiah said that he wants to be born a Muslim in his next life.

• Additionally, it also said that the Congress does not believe in the Hindu race.

Here is a translated version of the viral newspaper clipping.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: The claim is false as this newspaper clipping is fake.

• We did not find headline of this nature. The image used in the purported newspaper clipping was available in many news reports about Siddaramaiah meeting senior officers of the state government to implement the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress ahead of the Assembly elections.

• Team WebQoof has previously fact-checked the part about Siddaramaiah wanting to be born a Muslim in his next life. He was actually quoting Janata Dal (Secular)'s HD Dewe Gowda.

• Siddaramaiah also clarified on his social media platforms that the newspaper clipping was fake.

How did we find out?: At first, we ran a keyword search using the words in the headline. However, we did not find any newspaper article or report indicating the same.

• To verify further, we ran a Google reverse image search on the image used in the viral clipping.

• We came across multiple news reports from June 2023 by The Print, Dainik Bhaskar and MoneyControl which also used the same image.

• The reports noted that Siddaramaiah met senior officers of the state government to decide on implementing the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress party ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.

• Additionally, the part about Siddaramaiah wanting to be born a Muslim in his next life has been fact-checked by Team WebQoof previously.

• The chief minister was actually quoting HD Dewe Gowda who had once made the statement. He was lashing out at Gowda after the JDS and BJP joined hands in an alliance in Karnataka. Read our fact-check here.

Siddaramaiah dismisses claim: Taking to his official X account, the Chief Minister said that the 'unholy alliance of BJP-JDS' had fabricated the piece of 'disinformation' to mimic a report of a Kannada newspaper.

• Calling the clipping, 'fake,' Siddaramaiah expressed that the content causes communal tensions and is spread across social media platforms.

• Siddaramaiah had also lodged a complaint against the viral newspaper clipping.

Similarly, Congress's Priyank Kharge also wrote against the newspaper clipping on his official X page.

Police action: According to an Indian Express report from 10 April, the First Information Report (FIR) named Prabhakar Reddy, Vasant Giliyar, Vijay Heragu and social media accounts and groups such as Pandu Modika Parivara, BSY Supporters, Davanagere BJP and Datri Goshale Golooru as accused.

• The case has been registered under - Sections 66 (computer-related offences) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

• They also booked the accused under - 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc.), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• The party complained with the Chief Electoral Officer, alleging that the BJP was spreading false information and breaching the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Conclusion: Clearly, a fake newspaper clipping about Siddaramaiah is being shared with false communal claims.

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