Soon after BJP won the assembly polls in Rajasthan, the name of Mahant Balaknath Yogi emerged as the next chief minister of the desert state. While there has been no official confirmation from BJP as yet, people on social media have started comparing him with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Many users claim that Mahant Balaknath is a long-lost brother of Yogi Adityanath, who were separated during a Kumbh mela in Prayagraj. (“Rajasthan’s CM Contender Mahanth Balaknath is the younger brother of Yogi Adityanath who was lost in Kumbh Mela (Prayagraj.)”
The above post can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be false.
Our team could not find any news report corroborating the viral claim. But there were several articles about who Balaknath Yogi is and his comparison with Yogi Adityanath. These articles can be seen here, here and here.
As per Balaknath’s nomination papers on the Election Commission of India’s website, his father’s name is Mahant Chandnath. He was reportedly born on April 16, 1984, at Kohrana village in Behror tehsil, and his biological father was Subhash Yadav, who served Baba Khetanath at the Baba Khetanath Ashram in Neemrana.
Scanning through the family tree of Yogi Adityanath, our team traced several news reports suggesting that his biological parents were Anand Singh Bisht and Savitri Devi. Before assuming sannyasa, Yogi Adityanath’s name was Ajay Singh Bisht. He has seven brothers and sisters. These include three sisters and four brothers: Mahendra Singh Bisht, Shashi Singh, Shailendra Mohan, and Manvendra Mohan. (Reports about Adityanath’s Family can be seen here, here and here)
NewsMobile’s attempt to reach out to Balaknath for clarification, however, failed. And the fact-check report will be updated upon response.
So, it can be concluded that Balaknath and Yogi Adityanath are not biological brothers, and the viral claim is fake.
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