Authors
Claim: The image shows the ‘No Vote To BJP’ rally in Tamil Nadu.
Fact: The image is old and it is not from Tamil Nadu, but Kolkata.
The BJP has been strategically focusing on South India, aiming to secure 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Tamil Nadu emerges as an important player in this electoral strategy, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi frequenting the Deccan region to garner support and expand his party’s presence in the southern states.
Meanwhile, an image is doing rounds on social media that shows a rally against the BJP with a ‘No Vote To BJP’ banner and placards. Posting that image a section of social media users claimed that the anti-BJP rally took place in Tamil Nadu. @ImJordanGaurav1 was among the many who shared the image on social media, writing, “Retweet if you agrees Mood Of TamilNadu”. He also tagged Tamil Nadu BJP’s official X handle and K.Annamalai, the state President of Tamil Nadu BJP.
An archive version of the claim can be seen here.
Fact Check/ Verification
The credibility of the image shared on social media, purportedly showing an anti-BJP rally in Tamil Nadu, is questioned due to the presence of poster banners written in Bengali.
So at first, we performed a reverse image search and found the same image was used by the media outlet India Today in a news report published in 2021. Per the news, before the 2021 West Bengal’s Assembly election, a section of activists staged a protest march against the BJP in Kolkata with ‘No Vote To BJP’ slogans, banners and placards.
We found that Alamy, a website for the stock photos, also uploaded that image with the same information on their website, dated March 10 2021.
Shutter Stock, another website for stock photos and the National Herald also published that image at that time.
What is the ‘No Vote To BJP’ campaign?
The ‘No Vote to BJP’ campaign was a demonstration led by a portion of students, intellectuals, teachers, and civil society groups, which started before the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls. The main demand of that campaign was not to vote for BJP. Along with the street protests, the campaign was also carried out on social media.
Conclusion
Thus it is very clear that the image is from 2021 and it is not from Tamil Nadu, but Kolkata.
Result: False
Sources:
News published by India Today and National Herald
Image posted by Alamy and Shutter Stock
