Ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, Prime Minister Modi addressed his first rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. Soon after pictures of the rally showing a massive crowd started circulating on social media. Among them were pictures of rallies of other political parties shared as PM Modi’s rally by enthusiastic BJP leaders and supporters.
Picture 1
One such picture was shared by BJP Tamil Nadu, BJP Punjab and BJP members Tajinder Bagga, SG Suryah, Bhanu Jalan and CA OP Mishra.
Interestingly the same image was shared by several Congress supporters last week as a joint rally of Congress, CPI(M) and Indian Secular Front (ISF). Alt News had fact-checked the claim.
Fact-check
A reverse image search performed by Alt News revealed that the image is of a Left Front rally from 2019. The image was published by Social News XYZ in 2019 with a caption stating that it shows a Left Front rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata on February 3, 2019. The photo is credited to IANS.
The image of the rally was also tweeted by CPI(M) West Bengal last year.
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”
A bird eye view of last year Birgade Rally at #Kolkata#LalSalaamComradepic.twitter.com/EmuvpqaiXI
— CPI(M) WEST BENGAL (@CPIM_WESTBENGAL) June 10, 2020
The picture shows a massive crowd, marked with red flags of the Left front parties. The picture tweeted by BJP supporters is a slightly blurred version where the red can be mistaken for saffron.
Picture 2
A second image was shared by BJP member O.P. Mishra asking “how’s the josh”.
Fact-check
A reverse image search reveals that this image is of a Left Front rally from 2014.
A spike in misinformation is often seen before elections and West Bengal Assembly elections are no exception. However, it is noteworthy that a large crowd had gathered for PM Modi’s address at Brigade Parade Ground.
The next 25 years are very important for the development of Bengal. The development here in the next 5 years will lay the foundation for State’s development in the next 25 years: PM Modi at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground pic.twitter.com/Jb7lOFMsX4
— TOI Kolkata (@TOIKolkata) March 7, 2021