A video clip featuring Yogi Adityanath and containing a foul word attributed by some to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister has been widely circulated since Monday morning.
No statement had come from the chief minister’s office till late night but a state information department official told reporters the video had been tampered and threatened legal action. He didn’t name anyone.
News agency ANI, which had shot the video, denied that Adityanath had used foul words but did not elaborate. It posted a new video, saying it was retracting the previous “live sound byte (sic)”.
Adityanath was having his statement recorded by ANI at the Civil Hospital here on Monday morning after taking his first Covid-19 vaccine dose.
The video shows him thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and scientists for coming up with the vaccine, when there’s a moment of silence followed by a male voice uttering an expletive in a lower tone. Adityanath continues to be seen on the screen.
Some Twitterati alleged the chief minister had spoken the abusive word.
Surya Pratap Singh, a retired IAS officer who was among those to tweet the video (he did so at 8.59am), suggested that Adityanath was chiding the cameraman for interrupting him after a glitch.
The Uttar Pradesh information department official who spoke to reporters said: “The video was edited mischievously. A few words were added at the end to tarnish the chief minister’s image. We are thinking of filing a case against those involved.”
Contacted by this newspaper, Kamna Hajela, ANI bureau chief in Uttar Pradesh, said: “It’s all wrong. No such thing ever happened.”
After government representatives alleged tampering, Surya Pratap, the former bureaucrat, tweeted at 2.23pm: “I openly dare all the video experts of the government, those aware of the law and forensic teams, to prove me wrong and arrest me.”
At 2.40pm, he tweeted: “The camera auto aperture moved at 17th second, the camera person realised his mistake at 19th second, the CM was stopped, the immortal words broke out at 22th second.”
