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| - Fact Check: This aerial shot shows 2019 rally in Kolkata, not INDIA bloc rally in Delhi
India Today Fact Check found that the image making rounds is from 2019 and was shot during a rally in Kolkata organised by the Left parties.
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India Today Fact Check
This image dates back to February 3, 2019, and shows the Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata during a Left rally.
For the first time since the formation of the INDIA bloc, a mega rally showcasing Opposition unity was organised by the Aam Admi Party on March 31 at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. Members of Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (Uddhav), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, among others, participated in this event.
Meanwhile, a bird’s-eye-view photo allegedly showing this mega rally was widely shared. Some of these posts claimed, "Scenes from today at the Ramlila Maidan Alliance Rally. Modi toh giyo. #INDIAAlliance."
One Facebook user wrote: "Massive crowds today at the INDIA alliance rally at the Ramlila Maidan New Delhi. Godi Media won't show you these visuals." The archives of such posts can be seen here and here.
Even a few online news outlets shared this image, linking it to the INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan.
India Today Fact Check found that the image dates back to February 2019 and shows a mega Opposition rally in West Bengal, right before the Lok Sabha elections.
Our Probe
Running the viral image through Google Lens, we found that this was shared by Mohammed Salim, the State Secretary of CPI(M) West Bengal, on February 23, 2021. He wrote on X: “The #PeoplesBrigade on 28th February is going to be the mother of all rallies. The huge turnout of anti-TMC & anti-BJP voters will once again force Narendra Modi to put up sheds to hide the poor turnout during BJP's Brigade rally. #BengalNeedsLeft #BengalRejectsBJP.”
Before the 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections, the Left parties, Congress, and the Indian Secular Front allied to emerge as a third alternative in the state. On February 28, 2021, they reportedly organised their first joint mega event.
Subsequent searches with relevant keywords led to a report from a website named People's Democracy, dated February 10, 2019, featuring the viral image. The report noted that the image showed the gathering at the Left Front rally in Kolkata on February 3, 2019.
Further searches took us to the original image published on the stock image website Alamy. Dated February 3, 2019, the caption of this photo noted that it showed, "Left activists from different parts of state take part in the Left front Brigade rally ahead of General Election 2019."
Therefore, it’s clear that a 2019 image from a Left Front rally in Kolkata was falsely shared as the INDIA bloc Ramlila Maidan rally.
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