Fact Check: Did Akhilesh Yadav promise to build 2,000 mosques in UP?

A poster claimed to have been made by the Samajwadi Party (SP) is widely shared on social media. The poster attributes the following quote to SP president Akhilesh Yadav — “In western UP and Purvanchal, 2,000 new mosques will be built. In Ayodhya, Rs 1,000 crore will be given for Babri Masjid. Ayodhya’s name will be changed. Reservation for Dalits and other backwards classes will be reduced while for Muslims it will be increased to 30 per cent. Love Jihad law will be repealed. This is a promise to Muslims.” The poster went viral ahead of upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh.

This screenshot has been widely shared on Facebook.

It was also posted on Facebook pages I Support Modi Ji and BJP [over 6 lakh followers]; Hindu Sanatan Sangh [over 22K followers]; and NaMo Always [over 35k followers].

Morphed image

The quote attributed to Yadav is so controversial that if he had indeed made such comments it would be breaking news. But no news channel has reported on the alleged statement.

Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, National Spokesperson of Samajwadi Party, told Alt News, “The graphic is completely fabricated. It is neither made by our team nor Akhilesh Yadav has ever said this. It is a coordinated attempt to mislead a specific section of voters. Furthermore, the party is yet to disclose our manifesto.”

Alt News rummaged Samajwadi Party’s Twitter accounts and found a graphic similar to the viral image. To view other posters by SP visit these links — Facebook, Twitter.

The photo of Yadav in the viral image is his latest Twitter profile.

A morphed poster attributes a false quote to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. It portrays that he said his party will build mosques and allocate money for the construction of Babri Masjid. A similar claim was earlier viral where a fake tweet portrayed Yadav promising the construction of Babri Masjid on the land allocated for the Ram Mandir if SP is voted to power.