Old Images Used to Claim BJP Workers Clashed at Coffee House in WB

The images are from 2016 and show BJP workers clashing with each other in Howrah (North).

Old photos of BJP workers clashing with each other in West Bengal’s Howrah (North) were falsely revived as recent.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of old images showing workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashing with each other in West Bengal’s Howrah (North) in 2016 have been revived ahead of the upcoming state elections.

CLAIM

The pictures were shared on Facebook with a claim that the BJP workers were creating ruckus at the iconic Coffee House in Kolkata.

Originally in Bangla, when translated, the claim reads, “Traditional coffeehouse wreckage. These are the enemies of Bengal and Bengalis. If you vote for them they will destroy Bengal.”

You can view the archived version here.

You can view the archived version here.

You can view the archived version here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We ran a reverse image search on Yandex on one of the viral photos and came across a Times of India report from April 2016 that carried the image.

As per the article, BJP workers had assaulted each other at a party meeting where actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly was present.

Nearly 750 party workers in Howrah (North), along with 176 party booth presidents had then resigned to mount pressure on the leadership to expel “trouble-makers,” the report added.

We then ran a search with relevant keywords and came across an article by Firstpost that was published in 2016. The article carried two of the viral photos and had credited them to news agency PTI.

A search on PTI’s old photo archives led us to the three images dating back to 3 April 2016 with the caption: “Howrah: BJP workers clash with each other at a party workers’ convention for actress and BJP candidate from Howrah North Assembly constituency Rupa Ganguly (not in pic) (sic) in Howrah on Sunday.”

India TV had also aired the visuals of the said clash then with the caption: ‘2 Groups of BJP Workers Clashed in Front of BJP Candidate Roopa Ganguly’.

However, chaos did ensue at the Coffee House in mid-March when BJP supporters donning saffron T-shirts entered the place and tore posters on the wall, which read ‘No Votes to BJP’.

But these pictures that are being circulated as that of the clash, are old and have nothing to do with the incident.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)