SP chief does gimmick of hiring bouncers to guard tomatoes, PTI presents it as actual information

On the night of July ninth, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported a peculiar case wherein it was claimed {that a} vegetable vendor needed to rent bouncers to safeguard dear tomatoes from theft. Citing the steep costs of tomatoes, the official Twitter deal with of PTI made this declare. 

The tweet learn, “A vegetable vendor in Varanasi, UP has hired bouncers to keep customers at bay when they come to buy tomatoes, whose price has increased massively over the past few days.” The tweet additionally included a video wherein the ‘shopkeeper’ gave causes for a similar whereas speaking with the information company.  

The ‘vegetable’ vendor Ajay Fauji mentioned, “I have hired bouncers because the tomato price is too high. People are indulging in violence and even looting tomatoes. Since we have tomatoes in the shop, we don’t want any arguments, so we have bouncers here. Tomatoes are selling for Rs 160 per kg. People are buying 50 or 100 gms.” 

Based on this tweet, a number of outstanding Twitter handles together with that of Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe on the Union authorities. SP Chief Yadav shared the PTI video making the identical declare. He made a light-hearted remark stating that the BJP ought to present Z-plus safety to the tomatoes.

भाजपा टमाटर को ‘Z PLUS’ सुरक्षा दे. pic.twitter.com/k1oGc3T5LN

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 9, 2023

However, the actual fact is that the PTI’s tweet is deceptive. The shopkeeper in query, Ajay Fauji aka Ajay Yadav, is a political employee affiliated with the Samajwadi Party (SP), which was not disclosed within the tweet. He has been conducting numerous actions over the previous couple of days over the excessive value of greens, particularly tomatoes, and it was solely part of such a stunt. But PTI offered him as an actual vegetable vendor who employed two bouncers to guard tomatoes.

Ajay Fauji has a protracted historical past of political affiliation with SP, and is an lively chief. He is the son of the veteran SP chief Satish Fauji, who was a district president of the celebration.

This omission of political affiliation, in PTI’s tweet, can lead readers to consider that the incident was merely a rare prevalence involving an atypical vegetable vendor.

However, contemplating his political affiliation, it’s apparent that it was a political gimmick geared toward focusing on the ruling authorities. By presenting it as a novel occasion on the bottom, the PTI misleads readers by lacking the underlying political motives behind the act.

Apparently, a number of Twitter customers highlighted this main omission in PTI’s tweet and the way it may mislead most people. Some of the Twitter handles additionally shared Ajay Fauji’s image with SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav. Later, the information company deleted the deceptive tweet after being referred to as out by netizens.

Dear @PTI_News why have not you talked about that the particular person is Samajwadi Party chief @AjayFaujisp?

Do you actually assume he is a vegetable vendor? https://t.co/AXqO5kV785 pic.twitter.com/7tQtxqNhGd

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) July 9, 2023

However, in its report, the PTI itself mentions Ajay Fauji’s political affiliation with the Samajwadi Party. His political affiliation with SP is clear from his Twitter deal with wherein he himself claims to be an Akhilesian by coronary heart. Additionally, on his Facebook profile, he claims that he works at Samajwadi Party. 

In most of his pictures on social media, Ajay Fauji is seen with an SP’s inexperienced and pink scarf round his neck, which was additionally seen within the video, making his political hyperlink clear. Despite that, PTI offered him as an actual vegetable vendor.

The PTI report additionally highlighted that he was the identical SP chief who earlier minimize a tomato-shaped cake in Varanasi on the birthday of Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav.

Earlier, on the first of July, Ajay Fauji pulled an identical political gimmick when he celebrated the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s birthday with a tomato-shaped cake to spotlight the hovering costs of the vegetable, in Varanasi. Similarly, he has a observe file of pulling political gimmicks prior to now and was additionally arrested.

In February 2020, he was arrested by the Varanasi police for breaching PM Modi’s safety. The media again then had reported that one Ajay Yadav, son of former Samajwadi Party district chief Satish Fauji, dangerously jumped on the highway as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy got here close to. He additionally waved a celebration flag and a black jacket in protest.

Ajay Fauji’s social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram are stuffed with work he has been doing as a loyal celebration employee, and there’s no indication that he’s a vegetable vendor by career. His posts additionally present that in April this yr, he was busy campaigning for his spouse Sanju Yadav for the municipal elections in Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi. He can be a former member of the District Planning Committee of the UP authorities.

Update: PTI points clarification

Later within the day, PTI posted a tweet claiming that it got here to know that Ajay Fauji is an SP chief later. It tweeted, “Earlier today, PTI tweeted a story about a vegetable vendor in Varanasi hiring bouncers in light of high price of tomatoes. It has since come to our notice that the vendor is a worker of the Samajwadi Party, and his motive for giving us the information was questionable. We have, therefore, removed the tweet.”

Earlier right now, PTI tweeted a narrative a few vegetable vendor in Varanasi hiring bouncers in gentle of excessive value of tomatoes. It has since come to our discover that the seller is a employee of the Samajwadi Party, and his motive for giving us the data was questionable. We have,…

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 9, 2023

Informing that the tweet has been deleted, PTI mentioned that it erred in not verifying the antecedents of the supply for the story.

However, the declare that PTI didn’t know that the ‘vegetable vendor’ was a SP chief is questionable, as a result of, in their very own wire report, they clearly talked about that he’s a pacesetter of the Samajwadi Party. They even talked about that he’s the identical chief who had minimize a tomato formed cake. The PTI story was revealed by a number of media homes.