A letter purportedly written by Karnataka Congress leader MB Patil to former Congress President Sonia Gandhi detailing a plan to "divide Hindus" in Karnataka before the 2018 assembly election, is fake.
BOOM found that the fake letter has been viral since 2018 Karnataka assembly election and was posted by BJP Karnataka's official X handle in 2019. BOOM had previously fact-checked the same letter and spoken to Patil who had called the letter fake and also initiated legal action against those sharing it.
The last phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections is on June 1, 2024, with the counting and results to be declared on June 4, 2024.
The fake letter dated July 2017 claims that Patil was informing Sonia Gandhi about a meeting he and some ministers held with representatives of the Global Christian Council and World Islamic Organisation regarding “strategy to be adopted” for the Karnataka assembly elections.
The letter is being shared with the caption, "Look carefully to what extent the Congress can go to meanness. Karnataka Congress minister M B Patil has clearly written in his letter to Sonia Gandhi that if you want to defeat BJP, then divide the Hindus. And to do this, help was taken from Global Christian Council and World Islamic Organisation."
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral letter is fake and has been circulating since the 2018 Karnataka assembly election.
BOOM has previously fact-checked the same letter in May 2018 and had spoke to Patil who had said that the letter and the contents of it were fake. “When I saw the story I was enraged. They have scanned a copy of the letter head of my organisation BLDEA and my signature. It is gross lie by the website and all to tarnish mine and Soniaji’s reputation,” Patil had told BOOM.
A search for the two organisations mentioned 'Global Christian Council and 'World Islamic Organisation did not yield any results.
Fake news website Postcard had posted the fake letter back in 2018 and published a fake article alleging that Karnataka Water Resources Minister MB Patil and Sonia Gandhi, former president of the Indian National Congress had “masterminded division of Lingayats in Karnataka” to gain votes. The story was published and deleted by Postcard within a day of publishing it.