A photograph showing two elderly men holding a poster supporting the Indian National Congress has gone viral ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh state Assembly elections.
While one man in the photo is seen wearing saffron clothes, the other person is wearing a skull cap, representing the Hindu and Muslim community respectively. Those sharing the viral image claim that people from all communities are supporting the Congress party in the upcoming elections.
However, we found that the photograph has been altered to include the poster supporting Congress. The original photograph, posted in March 2021, was in support of the Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The photographs were shared ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
CLAIM
The photograph was shared by the verified account of UP-East Youth Congress. "ये तस्वीर इस और भी इशारा कर रही है कि उत्तरप्रदेश के दिल मे इस बार सिर्फ कांग्रेस है । हिन्दू मुस्लिम सिक्ख ईसाई आपस में हम भाई भाई," the caption said.
[Translation: This picture is further indicating that this time only Congress is in the heart of Uttar Pradesh. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian are all together.]
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We conducted a reverse image search of the viral image and found similar images posted in 2021. The image was posted by a verified Facebook page called "Didi Ke Bolo" (Tell Didi), an initiative started by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for people to air their grievances and complaints.
The image was published on 2 March 2021, in the run-up to the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, and asked for people to support Banerjee if they wanted unity and development. We also found the same image posted by Trinamool Congress leader Nusrat Jahan on her Twitter account.
Comparison of the viral photo with the original image.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
When we cropped the images of the two men in the photograph and conducted a reverse image search, we found another photograph of the duo with the same poster at a different location. The image was also posted in March 2021.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Evidently, an old photograph showing support to the TMC in 2021 was edited and shared with a false claim that it showed people from the Hindu and Muslim community supporting Congress in the upcoming UP state elections.
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