Photos of BJP West Bengal workers clashing with each other is from 2016

by Kinjal

Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP have been campaigning ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal. On March 19, Newslaundry reported that BJP workers in West Bengal were dissatisfied with the tickets distribution and angry party workers also vandalized the BJP office.

In the backdrop of this, pictures of BJP workers resorting to physical alteration and vandalism inside what looks like a temporary party office has been shared. BJP flags and people sporting party scarves can be spotted. Rohan Gupta, chairman of the social media department of the Congress, tweeted the images and wrote, “BJP workers showing the trailer of Bengal’s golden future!” At the time of writing, his tweet amassed 8,000 likes and around 2,000 retweets. (Archive link)

Twitter user @i_the_indian_ sarcastically remarked that BJP Bengal workers were practising making the state ‘Sonar Bangla’ from inside the party office. The tweet also carried the hashtag #NoVoteToBJP. Several people in the replies believe that the images are recent.

Twitter user Kamesh Shivhare INC also tweeted these photos. The replies to his post too suggest that users are linking them with the upcoming polls.

The pictures have also been posted on Facebook with Bengali messages.

Fact-check

We found these photos in a tweet dated April 5, 2016, after performing a keyword search on Twitter. According to the tweet, these pictures were taken during a clash between BJP workers in Howrah, West Bengal.

A Firstpost report dated March 3, 2016, carries two of the viral images. According to the outlet, a clash broke out between BJP workers in Howrah at a party-wide convention for actress and BJP candidate Rupa Ganguly. The photo has been attributed to PTI. The viral photo was also published in a report in The Times of India report from April 2016.

On April 3, 2016, India TV shared video footage of the skirmish.

News agency ANI also reported that six people were injured.

Therefore, photos of clashes between party workers at a BJP event in Howrah, West Bengal back in April 2016 were shared ahead of the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.