Viral Sach: 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans raised in favour of a candidate in UP civic polls?

NEW DELHI: Slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' were raised during a campaign drive of an independent candidate in Uttar Pradesh civic polls, a video doing the rounds on social media claimed. As soon as the video emerged on the internet, it garnered a lot of public response across social media. The video begins with a people passing through a narrow street during the night. As they move forward a voice can be heard shouting slogans, which were interpreted by some people as "Pakistan Zindabad". The video belongs to a local campaign drive of Haji Siraj, chairman candidate in Laharpur town of Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district. When contacted, Siraj said he never asked people to raise slogans in Pakistan's favour. I am Indian, my ancestors were Indian, why would I ask people to chant 'Pakistan Zindabad'? he said. Siraj said opponents are conspiring to malign his image through such 'fake' videos. Locals have also denied that such slogans were raised during his campaign. Sitapur SP Anand Kulkarni said that Police has closely investigated the clip and found that slogans were raised in favour of Haji Siraj and not of Pakistan. Some people interpreted 'Haji Sijar Zindabad' as 'Pakistan Zindabad', he said.