By Anmol Alphonso
An old photo of a billboard ad featuring Ravi Kishan referring to power cuts, is being shared with a misleading claim that it is recent and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) acknowledged electricity outages in Uttar Pradesh.
The photo shows a billboard ad for Hotstar - a streaming app, and features the Bhojpuri film actor. The text in the ad refers to power cuts while watching cricket matches and urges people to use the Hotstar app to watch the game uninterrupted. Kishan is seen holding an electric flashlight in one hand and a mobile in the other hand with the Hotstar logo seen on it.
Several Facebook users have shared the image of the billboard targeting Kishan who is a BJP MP from Gorakhpur, UP.
The Hindi caption with the image translates to the following: 'Will not give electricity... This is BJP MP Ravi Kishan, he will definitely earn even by running out of electricity.. Now look at their advertisements, those who do not have time to dance and sing, now they will run the country, the day the people of the country wake up, they will not get time to dance...'
(In Hindi - बिजली नहीं देंगे... बिजली भागने से भी कमाई जरूर कर लेंगे ये है भाजपा के सांसद रवि किशन.. अब इनका विज्ञापन देख लो जिन लोगों को नाचने गाने की फुर्सत नहीं अब वो देश चलाएंगे जिस दिन देश की जनता जागेगी उस दिन नाचने की फुर्सत भी नहीं मिली गी...)
Click here to view
The same viral photo was also tweeted by Samajwadi Party spokesperson IP Singh.
"There is a big discussion about this hoarding in UP these days. Ravi Kishan is telling that a lot of electricity goes out in UP. He is the MP of Gorakhpur from where the Chief Minister comes. Good days have come," IP Singh tweeted.
(Hindi - यूपी में आजकल इस होर्डिंग की बड़ी चर्चा है। रवि किशन बता रहा है कि यूपी में बिजली तो बहुत जाती है। ये गोरखपुर का सांसद है जहाँ से मुख्यमंत्री आते हैं। अच्छे दिन आ गए हैं।)
Click here to view
The viral photo is being shared with the same misleading caption.
Also Read: India's Alt-Right 'Trads' Take Up Gyanvapi Mosque Cause With Violent Memes
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that viral photo was taken before Ravi Kishan contested from the Gorakhpur seat in Uttar Pradesh on a BJP ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The results of the elections were announced on May 23, 2019.
We used text from the ad and ran a keyword search on Facebook and found a post from May 13, 2019.
The text with the photo said, "Want to watch cricket but power cuts again and again. This is Madhya Pradesh government. This advertisement is on Ramchandra Nagar Chauraha Airport Road"
In the original photo one can also spot 'Indore municipal corporation' written in Hindi. This indicates that the billboard is located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Click here to view
We also found a news report dated May 14, 2019 about the same billboard ad by the news website Bhopal Samachar which reported that the billboard is located near Holkar college in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and that several companies referred to power cuts in their ads.
