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New Delhi: Several micro-influencers who had uploaded videos alleging that the Congress party approached them with monetary offers to run campaigns targeting the AI India Summit have reportedly deleted those videos from their social media handles.

This comes in the backdrop of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) moving to initiate legal action against what it termed a “malicious, coordinated, and politically motivated propaganda campaign.”

The legal department of the Indian Youth Congress issued a formal statement on February 27, warning of civil and criminal proceedings if the allegedly defamatory content was not taken down within 24 hours.

In its statement, the Indian Youth Congress said, “a malicious, coordinated, and politically motivated propaganda campaign is being orchestrated to defame the Indian Youth Congress.”

The IYC rejected the claims made by the influencers and issued a warning stating, “If the impugned posts or videos are not removed within 24 hours, the Legal Department of the Indian Youth Congress will initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings.”

Following the legal warning, several influencers who had earlier posted videos alleging that the Congress party’s PR team had approached them to criticise and highlight alleged mismanagement at the AI India Summit have reportedly removed those videos from their accounts.

Vartha Bharathi could not independently verify all the social media handles involved. However, a check of a few prominent accounts showed that the videos were no longer available.

One such user, Vinayak Dev Trivedi, who has around 75,000 followers on Instagram, had claimed that he was offered Rs 25,000 to criticise the AI Summit and that he had received a message from the Congress party’s PR team. The video posted by him has since been deleted from his official Instagram handle.

A Google Lens scan of the earlier video now redirects to a page stating that the content is unavailable.

However, Trivedi has since posted another Instagram post claiming that he appeared in a debate programme hosted by India TV on the same issue.

News channel India TV hosted dedicated shows related to the issue.

Another influencer, identified as Shivay Rajput, who has around 11,000 followers, had gone viral with a video in which he claimed he was offered Rs 55,000 to make a video targeting the AI Summit. A check of his official Instagram handle showed that the video has been deleted.

Similarly, an influencer using the handle “chhotatoofann,” who has around 4,000 followers, has reportedly deleted all videos from her official account.

Raavi Vishwakarma, an influencer with around 81,000 followers, has also deleted the video in which he allegedly made similar claims.

Another user, Anupreet Singh, whose video had also allegedly gone viral, has removed the content. The user describes himself as a, “A (proud) BJP supporter.”

Yet another influencer, Prafful Garg, has also reportedly taken down his video after the legal notice. While he claimed in an Instagram comment that the video was still available, checks conducted later could not locate any such content on his handle.

An ‘X’ user, @Amockx2022, claimed that most of the influencers who made the allegations were aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party ecosystem. The user wrote that, “if they got offers from Congress against AI summit, then why didn't any anti BJP influencer actually posted such campaign? It can't be possible that Congress will approach only pro BJP people.”

According to claims that had gone viral earlier, influencers alleged they were offered amounts ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 40,000 to push negative content against the AI Summit.

Some creators had also shared screenshots of messages which allegedly stated, “Ask for whatever you want just defame the AI Summit.”

Meanwhile, the Indian National Congress on Friday strongly rejected the allegations, calling them a “fake story” originating from the BJP IT Cell.

Congress social media department head Supriya Shrinate said that the party had been subjected to a witch-hunt through fake news over the past 48 hours.

Addressing the press, Shrinate said that, “ all kinds of fake news has been planted. It has been alleged that the Congress Party, the Indian Youth Congress, allegedly paid some Instagram influencers to make reels and videos opposing the AI Summit.”

Rejecting the claims, she said that, “we have never paid anybody to make any video like that. We categorically said it from day one. This is absolutely fictitious and fake news.”

Shrinate also revealed that when Youth Congress said about legal action most of them deleted their videos.

 
 
 
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She said, “They are running helter-skelter, they've got scared. And most of these accounts, and I have a list of these guys here, most of these accounts are now basically deleting and running away. Even when they were alleging that the Congress had asked them to make these videos, they never made the name of the person public.They never revealed the number. All those things were hidden. Who knows? It's the BJP IT cell that had got that message circulated.”

She also alleged that “It's the BJP IT cell that got all these Instagram influencers to make videos against the Congress. Because the reality is that all of those videos, all of those influencers are a part of the pro-Modi, pro-BJP ecosystem. They constantly and repeatedly and frequently keep making videos supporting the BJP and all its ill-gotten and ill activities and misadventures.”

She said that since the videos have now been deleted, the obvious question is who got those videos made in the first place, and why the influencers did not make public the names and numbers of the people who allegedly contacted them, asserting that they had no such evidence and that the entire episode was absolute fake news and a completely fictitious story that originated from the BJP IT cell.

She stated that people across the country now know exactly what transpired at the AI Summit, alleging that there was absolute mismanagement, that when the Prime Minister arrived for a photo opportunity those who had purchased kiosks were pushed out, that tech equipment was stolen, that there was no stable internet connectivity, and that a Chinese robot appeared at India’s own innovation summit.

She further said that no inquiry had taken place into how a Chinese robot and a Korean ball made their way into the event, asserting that these facts were not stated by the Congress but were made public by entrepreneurs and tech entrepreneurs themselves.

She added that she hoped India’s mainstream media, which had conducted multiple debates on the alleged influencer deals, would also debate why those videos were deleted, who got them made, who ordered their deletion, where the instructions to create the alleged videos came from, and who within the BJP IT cell issued those orders.

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Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the BJP was blaming the Iran-Israel conflict for a range of domestic issues and said such claims were an attempt to hide policy failures.

Responding to a question on the impact of the West Asia situation on industries in Kanpur during a press conference here, Yadav said that the responsibility for the condition of industries lies with the BJP government.

"These people may now even say that the Ganga is not getting cleaned because of the war in West Asia," the former UP chief minister remarked.

He said the government was diverting attention from farmers' issues and bringing up unrelated matters.

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Referring to fertiliser shortages, he said that farmers had to stand in long queues and fertilisers were not available even earlier, and "now such shortages could be attributed to the Iran-Israel conflict".

He added that this was a failure of government policy and accused the BJP of shifting blame.

Yadav also said that potato farmers were not getting fair prices and alleged that the government might attribute this as well to the ongoing conflict.

On a question related to foreign policy and India's ties with the United States, Yadav said he would not like to comment in detail as his knowledge on the subject was limited, but noted that the influence of the US was visible in many areas.

"If one studies past speeches of leaders, including those from the opposition, after Independence, it would be clear what kind of foreign policy India should have pursued and how it has evolved over time," the leader of the third largest party in Lok Sabha noted.

Yadav also referred to discussions around foreign funding to NGOs and their possible influence on policies, but said these were "contentious issues" on which he would not like to comment further at present.

"Our immediate focus is on ensuring respect for PDA (Backward classes, Dalits and minorities), establishing the rule of social justice and removing the corrupt BJP from government," he said.

On a question related to claims about late night voting during polls in Andhra Pradesh in 2024 coming to light now, Yadav said that concerns had been raised about voting continuing late into the night in some instances.

"Our stance is clear on this matter. In several progressive and developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and England, voting is done through ballots despite their advanced technological capabilities.

"In Germany, the use of electronic voting machines has even been considered unconstitutional," he said, and questioned the continued reliance on EVMs and VVPAT systems in India.

Yadav reiterated his party's stand in favour of returning to ballot voting, saying it would at least allow poorer voters to visibly express their choice.

"The poor cannot vent out their anguish against the government by just pressing the button of the EVM. Using the ballot stamp, they can properly vent out their anger," he said in a lighter vein.

On a separate question regarding student politics and demands for the revival of student unions in universities, Yadav said that if the Samajwadi Party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, it would send delegations of students from universities in the state to reputed global institutions such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

"These delegations would observe student union systems and share their experiences, and students from those institutions would also be invited to Lucknow for conferences to exchange ideas," he added.

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