An image of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is being shared to claim that he was recently spotted painting a conch, the party symbol of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on a wall.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Another image went viral showing Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik painting lotus, the party symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on a wall.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
(More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What is the truth?: Both the images have been altered.
The first image dates back to January and showed Pradhan painting a lotus on a wall in Odisha.
The original image of Patnaik showed him doodling water waves on a wall reportedly during World Water Day in 2013.
Pradhan's Image
Team WebQoof went through his social media accounts and found a similar image posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle.
The post was shared on 28 January.
Its caption in Odia, when translated to English said, "Joined BJP's 'Kanth Likhan' program in North Bhubaneswar Constituency Booth No. 59 Housing Board Colony. Padma, the symbol of our party BJP and Modi, has become a symbol of hope, progress and welfare of all sections. Prime Minister @narendramodi Odisha's leadership and Modi's faith in Odisha remain unchanged."
Comparing the visuals: On comparing the viral image to the second image uploaded by Pradhan, we found that the former has been edited to add the BJD's symbol.
A comparison clearly highlights the similarities.
(Source: X/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Patnaik's Image
We performed a keyword search on Google and found a similar image uploaded on an online Odia news portal called 'Sambad English'.
The report mentioned about theme-based street art in the capital city of Odisha, which carried several images.
We found an image of Patnaik that showed him doodling water waves. The report further said that the chief minister was seen doodling on the occasion of World Water Day in 2013.
The report was published in December 2017.
(Source: Sambad English/Screenshot)
Comparing the visuals: We compared both the images and found that the viral image was edited to add the lotus in it.
A comparison clearly highlights the similarities.
(Source: Sambad English/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint))
Conclusion: It is clear that a set of two edited images is going viral on the internet.
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