A photo of a large gathering of people forming the BJP symbol lotus is being spread on social media linking it to the BJP’s “Vijay Yatra” in the Kasaragod district of Kerala.
About 25,000 BJP workers, dressed in green, saffron, black and white, form this ‘human flag’.
Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday marked off the “Vijay Yatra” of the BJP in the Kasaragod district in the ballot box-based Kerala. Below, a picture of a large gathering of people who form the BJP symbolotus is spread on social media linking it to the event.
The picture is shared with the caption, ‘Photo of the day from #Kerala. #KeralaWelcomeYogiJi ”.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the allegation along with the photo to be misleading. Although Yogi’s Kasaragod gathering on February 21 was large crowds, this particular photo was taken in April 2015 when BJP workers in Dahod in Gujarat celebrated the party’s founding day.
The same claim is also being spread on Facebook. The archived version of the viral tweet can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
Using reverse image search, we found the picture on April 7, 2015 in a report by “The Indian Express”. BJP workers are said to have gathered at a university campus in Dahod in Gujarat and formed a huge party flag to celebrate the BJPs. 35th founding day on 6 April 2015.
According to the report, about 25,000 BJP workers, dressed in green, saffron, black and white, formed this ‘human flag’.
Other media houses, including news agency ANI, also reported the incident.
At that point, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted a similar picture showing the full “human flag”. A video of the event is also available on the internet.
An innovative way to label BJP ‘Sthapana Diwas’. Congratulations to the Karyakartas. http://t.co/DlxyrMzbX8 pic.twitter.com/HXmPnE5Eob
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 6 April 2015
Photos from Yogi’s Kasaragod rally on February 21 were shared on the official Twitter handle of Kerala BJP and can be seen here.
#KeralaVijayaYatra#KeralaWelcomeYogiJi pic.twitter.com/ksZliKiOEZ
– BJP KERALAM (@ BJP4Keralam) 21 February 2021
It can therefore be concluded that the allegation together with the viral image is misleading. The photo is almost six years old and not of Yogi’s rally in Kerala on Sunday, which also saw large crowds.
ClaimPhoto of Yogi Adityanath’s rally in Kasaragod district in Kerala on 21 February.ClosureThe photo was taken in April 2015 when BJP workers in Dahod in Gujarat celebrated the party’s founding day. Yogi’s rally in Kasaragod on February 21 also saw large crowds.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
