Deputy Editor and Anchor at AajTak, Chitra Tripathi, shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation on Twitter where she claimed she was being praised for her journalism. The only problem was that as soon as that tweet was up, netizens raised questions and wondered if the praise was sent to Chitra Tripathi by Chitra Tripathi herself.
In the text Tripathi allegedly sent herself, she says, “Didi, pranam, I am Jyoti from the Deori village in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.” ‘Jyoti’ then narrates that she is physically specially-abled and has pursued her higher education from her village. She further says that she has passed the first level of her Madhya Pradesh public service commission exams and is currently preparing for the mains.
‘Jyoti’ then says that she watched Tripathi’s show ‘Betiyan’ which she found inspirational. She further says that if she were to receive a reply, then she would be extremely happy.
It should be noticed that in the ‘WhatsApp message’ shared by Chitra, there appear two tick marks in the message. Those tick marks only appear when a user sends the message, not when a message is received. Thus, it was assumed that the screenshot shared by Chitra was taken from the phone of the sender of the message, not the receiver.
Further, the message appeared on the right side, whereas, received messages appear on the left side.
To justify herself further, Chitra shared some follow up screenshots. In a follow-up tweet, the added screenshots of a conversation between her and someone else. However, when one looks closely, one realises that the WhatsApp background of the first message (which was purportedly sent to her by someone) and the following messages are the same.
These questions were raised by many on Social Media.
Lol. Tweeting a sent message as received. She is a journalist..enough said.. https://t.co/NlWkvHSMaK
— रुचिर রুচির 🇮🇳 (@RuchirRMM) October 13, 2020
Pic 1 : Girl's message is in Green colour
— sanghi DEXTER (@sanghiDEXTER) October 13, 2020
Pic 2 : Girl's message NOW is in White colour
🙄😂 Chori Pakdi gyi? 🤣 #CheapTricks #BoycottAajtak https://t.co/zCwWvBzlWl pic.twitter.com/nL7Kjndwo1
However, speaking to OpIndia, Chitra said that the message was indeed authentic and she had taken a screenshot from a window where she had shared the message to the group that makes the show. Hence, it appears as a sent message and not as a received message.
AajTak journalist Chitra Tripathi is the same individual who had made a fool of herself while covering the Hathras case. After screaming on the face of the Hathras SDM, she had recently tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. Earlier, she had declared victory for journalists when the media was granted permission to visit the village insinuating that the decision was due to building pressure on the UP administration due to the growing crowd of journalists. In reality, media was allowed to enter as the SIT had completed its probe and she entered the village running frantically claiming victory.
