Video shared by social media users claiming Awadh Ojha made remarks against Manish Sisodia edited

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Amid the heightened election campaign by parties in the national capital ahead of the assembly polls, a video was shared on social media with users claiming it showed AAP leader Awadh Ojha allegedly speaking against party colleague and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The video purportedly showed Ojha, AAP's candidate from the Patparganj Assembly seat, making a remark in response to a media query about why Sisodia was not contesting the Patparganj seat despite his previous success in the constituency.

However, an investigation by the PTI Fact Check Desk revealed that two portions of Ojha's conversation with a TV reporter were combined to create this viral video.

Sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), a user wrote: "AAP-DA candidate from Patparganj, Awadh Ojha, says that liquor minister Manish Sisodia, who was jailed in the liquor scam, ran away from Jangpura because he is a coward and did not fulfill his promises. Well, Awadh Ojha is right. After coming out of jail, Sisodia's face has also lost color." The Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and came across an X post by NDTV, dated January 8, 2025, which carried the full interview of Ojha.

The Desk watched the video and found that Ojha's idiom, which was shared on social media and linked to Sisodia, was actually in response to a query about his own entry into politics.

Upon further review, the Desk noticed that at 1:46 minutes, the reporter posed the question about Sisodia to Ojha, which was also included in the viral video.

To the question, Ojha replied: "He did not leave the seat; he gave it to me because he was also connected to the field of education, and I also wanted to work in the same direction. So, I requested that he give me the seat (to let me contest from that seat)." AAP had announced that Sisodia would contest from the Jangpura assembly segment. In the next part of the investigation, the Desk contacted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for its response to the edited video shared on social media.

"Our Patparganj candidate Awadh Ojha's morphed video reflects their (BJP’s) sheer desperation -- they cannot compete in the politics of work, so they stoop to such tactics. The people of Patparganj know that even after Manish Sisodia's arrest, not a single task for them came to a halt. From jail, he ensured the construction of roads, badminton courts, streetlights, and met the needs of the area's residents," the party told PTI.

"People from across India and the world now look up to Delhi’s government schools for inspiration. Patparganj, the cradle of Delhi’s education revolution, has always stood resolutely with Manish Sisodia through every adversity. It is now witnessing the baton pass to one of India’s finest educators," the party added.

The investigation clarified that an edited video was shared on social media to falsely claim that Ojha made remarks against Sisodia.

Delhi will go to the polls on February 5, with votes to be counted on February 8.

Read the full fact-check report here: http://bit.ly/4g0ZGeu For verification of any claim viral on social media, contact PTI Fact Check Desk's WhatsApp number +91-8130503759. PTI TEAM ARD ARD