An image purportedly showing a press release from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), dated May 22, 2024, alleging the appointment of political consultant Prashant Kishor as the party’s national chief spokesperson is being circulated on social media.
The Facebook post reads: “Prashant Kishor has been appointed as a National spokesperson of BJP with immediate effect.”
The above post can be seen here. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the post, and found it to be Fake.
After scrutinising the press release section on the BJP website and its social media profiles, we didn’t find any statement clarifying the selection of Prashant Kishor as the party spokesperson. All press releases posted on the website on May 22 pertain to the election campaign.
The most recent announcement of a political appointment dates back to March 27, revealing CR Kesavan as the national spokesperson of the party. The party also disclosed the state in charge of the elections.
The spokesperson’s section on the BJP website catalogues all designated national and chief spokespersons. Anil Baluni serves as the chief spokesperson and media in-charge, while there are 29 national spokespersons listed, none of them include Kishor. Also, the viral letter incorrectly spells Kishor’s surname as ‘Kishore’.
We also found an X post from the account of Kishor’s political campaign Jan Suraaj accusing the Congress party of sharing the now-viral letter.
It’s important to highlight that Kishor joined the Janata Dal (United) in 2018, where he served as the party’s vice president before being expelled in 2020. Following his tenure at the political consultancy I-PAC, he separated from the company in 2021 and initiated Jan Suraaj.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that a press release asserting that political strategist Prashant Kishor has been appointed as the BJP’s national chief spokesperson is fabricated.
