Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Couple of images showing the massive turnout at the mega I.N.D.I.A bloc rally in Bihar.
In a show of strength by the Opposition, top leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) addressed a joint rally at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Sunday (March 3). The Rashtriya Janata Dal, led by leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, spearheaded the event. Other opposition leaders who attended the event included Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, along with Samajwadi party leaders and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The archived version of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact
Image 1
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the viral photo, which led us to this ANI post on Twitter, dated August 27, 2017, that shared several images of RJD’s rally in Patna.
A comparison of the second image (clockwise) with the viral photo (right) suggests that it may have been digitally altered to make the crowd appear larger.
A relevant keyword search led us to this NDTV report, dated August 27, 2017, stating that Lalu Yadav shared a morphed picture of the “BJP bhagao desh bachao” rally, which was pointed out by several Twitter users. The report also shared an image of the actual rally, where the crowd was significantly smaller.
“Within moments of Mr Yadav posting the picture, social media users started pointing out the goof. ‘Scam’ references taking digs at the corruption-tainted leader followed,” read the report. Similar reports calling out the photoshopped image of the anti-BJP rally can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral photo is a digitally manipulated image from 2017.
Image 2
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of the viral photo, which led us to this Times of India tweet, dated August 27, 2017, on the same RJD rally in Patna in 2017.
A Financial Express report, dated August 27, 2017, sharing the same photo, further confirms that the viral image is not related to the recent INDIA meet.
Result: False
Sources
Tweet, ANI, August 27, 2017
NDTV report, August 27, 2017
Tweet, TOI, August 27, 2017
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
