The upcoming assembly elections in Bihar have kept political parties busy in poll campaigning. In the midst of this, a picture of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is being shared with the claim that she is campaigning in a saree owned by her grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Gaurav Pradhan, who has spread misinformation on several occasions, shared this picture and wrote, “Bihar elections have come and her grandma’s saree has come out of her wardrobe.”
बिहार चुनाव आ गया है
तो दादी की साड़ी अलमारी से निकल गई है
लेकिन मिलेगा वहीं जो लटक रहा है…— Gaurav Pradhan 🇮🇳 (@OfficeOfDGP) October 6, 2020
Several Facebook pages including ‘Kangana Ranaut Fan Club‘, ‘Namo Narendra Modi Ji‘, ‘Dr. Sambit Patra Fan Club‘ and ‘Squint Neon‘, which regularly share misinformation, amplified the claim.
We noticed that this picture is widely circulating on Facebook and other social media platforms.
A decade-old photograph
We found numerous Facebook and Twitter handles carrying the same image from two years ago which itself debunks the claim that it cannot represent Priyanka Gandhi campaigning for the upcoming Bihar elections. A keyword search led us to the picture uploaded on Flickr in 2009. Its description states that Priyanka Gandhi was campaigning for her brother, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, during the general elections that year. She also visited a Durga temple in Amethi during this trip. There were also other pictures of the temple tour.
Getty Images also uploaded a photograph of Gandhi’s temple tour in 2009 where she is in the identical red saree. “Priyanka Gandhi smiles as she leaves a Durga Temple during an election campaign for her brother Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary in Amethi before the general elections starting on April 12, 2009, in India,” reads its description. The picture was taken on April 12, 2009.
To sum it up, an image of Priyanka Gandhi which is more than 10 years old was circulated online with the false claim that she stepped out in her grandmother’s saree while campaigning for the upcoming Bihar elections.
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