Authors
A letter allegedly from PM Narendra Modi congratulating Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for his contribution to the “Hindu Rashtra” has surfaced on social media platforms.
Dated 5 March 2021, the letter claims that the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal for an international airport in Ayodhya has been approved.
The letter addressed to CM Adityanath reads, “Let me begin by congratulating you and your team for your precious contribution to the Hindu Rashtra. Your proposal for an international airport in Ayodhya has been approved by me. About Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated to the Ayodhya district administration by the state government.”
It further reads, “Hindus will always be grateful to you and your team for your honest and steady hard work towards the milestone of saffronisation (Hindu History), which is a major pillar of Hindu Rashtra. I wish you and your team the very best for your future Elections 2022 and once again congratulate you for this remarkable achievement.”
We received this claim on our Whatsapp verification number (9999499044) asking for clarification.
You can view this letter on Twitter here and here. And its archived version here.
Also read: Did Nehru Write A Letter To Attlee, Former PM of UK, Calling Bose A “War Criminal”?
Fact Check/ Verification
Through a relevant keyword search we found a tweet by the official fact-checking handle of the government of Uttar Pradesh that deemed this claim fake.
Their clarification reads, “A purported letter written by the Hon. Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji to #UPCM Shri @myogiadityanath Ji for the development of Ayodhya International Airport is doing rounds on social media. #InfoUPFactCheck: This letter is #Fake!”
Adding to the suspicion, we found another fake letter from August 2020 (Right), which included the exact same opening sentence from the current letter in context (Left). The Press Information Bureau Fact-Check deemed it fake back at the time.
On comparing the viral letter with an official one previously written by PM Modi to Adityanath after his father’s death (reported by Aaj Tak), we found a few discrepancies including his signature, format of the date as well as the name and details of the person the letter is being addressed to.
Additionally, we also browsed through Adityanath’s and Modi’s Twitter account but did not find any tweet mentioning such a letter. However, we did find a 26 February tweet by Adityanath thanking Modi and Union minister for Housing and Urban Affairs for the Rs 250 crore towards Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram Airport under construction in Ayodhya.
You can read about this claim in our Hindi fact-check as well.
Conclusion
Our research makes it clear that the letter from PM Modi to UP’s CM Yogi Adityanath congratulating him for his contribution to the Hindu Rashtra is fake.
Result: False
Our Sources
Info UP Fact-checking: https://twitter.com/InfoUPFactCheck/status/1368284915326803969
Press Information Bureau Fact-Check: https://twitter.com/PIBFactCheck/status/1292483615893278721
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath:https://twitter.com/myogiadityanath/status/1365168938607206403
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