’Fake’ Pictures by Lalu Yadav’s Daughter Misa Bharti, a Clarification From Harvard

Mangalore Today News Network

Patna, Mar 10, 2015:  Bihar politician Lalu Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti is facing an embarrassing allegation that she lied about being invited as a speaker by the Harvard University and posted fake pictures.

The Harvard University has said that it did not invite Misa Bharti as a speaker at its India Conference this week. Its clarification came after the 40-year-old made statements and released photographs claiming she had delivered a lecture at the prestigious university.

"Dr Misa Bharti was invited as part of the audience and not as a speaker of any panel at the India Conference at Harvard. She was not invited to deliver any lecture. Her attendee status can also be confirmed from the fact that she had to purchase a conference ticket as an audience," Rajat Sethi, Co-chair, India Conference at Harvard, told NDTV in an email.

He said that the "Harvard Kennedy School Communications Department has taken cognizance and are currently looking into the matter."

Photographs uploaded on Misa’s facebook page show her on stage, apparently addressing an audience. The photograph is captioned in Hindi: "Giving a lecture on the role of youth at Harvard."

She has been accused of taking the misleading photographs after the conference. These were published by newspapers in Bihar.

"Misa did not deliver any lecture and therefore no local US newspaper covered her lecture. She did not deliver any lecture and therefore we do not have any official pictures or videos," Rajat Sethi said in his email.

On her Facebook page, Misa Bharti, who contested and lost last year’s national election, had said: "Dear friends... I wish to share with you all that I have been invited by Harvard University to participate in ’India Conference’ on 7th and 8th March. While delighted at the prospect of interacting with and sharing our concerns and commitments with great minds from across the world, I must confess this invitation is for all of us who wish to change the grammar of the contemporary politics with just means."

Misa is still in the US and has not reacted to the controversy. Sources in Lalu Yadav’s party admit she was only a participant, but have not explained why the photos were uploaded on her pages.

 

Courtesy: NDTV