RJD workers dump sweets after Bihar election loss? Old photos from raids at confectioneries viral

by Kinjal

Last week, a few pictures of people dumping large vessels containing sweets went viral on social media. They are being linked to the recently-concluded Bihar assembly elections, with netizens claiming the people seen here are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) workers. The NDA beat the Grand Alliance by winning three seats more than the majority. These photos are being shared on Twitter and Facebook as proof of the frustration of RJD workers. Film director and writer Harinder Sikka tweeted the picture, drawing over 1,100 likes and more than 300 retweets. (archive link)

Another user tweeted these pictures with a Hindi message. (archive link)

The pictures and accompanying claim made their way to Facebook as well.

Fact-check

Alt News found that these pictures have nothing to do with the 2020 Bihar assembly elections.

First photo

After performing a reverse image search, we found the photo in an Amar Ujala story dated November 10, 2020. The report states that the picture was taken at Sirsa, Haryana. It says that the Chief Minister’s flying squad and the Food and Safety Department raided a rasgulla factory on Kanganpur Road, Sirsa. According to the article, “The team recovered three quintals of rasgullas, two quintals of gulab jamun, and one quintal of mawa. Samples were taken and dead insects, flies and mosquitoes were found in one quintal of sweets. The team destroyed one quintal of rasgulla and gulab jamun by burying it in the ground.”

Dainik Bhaskar also covered the raid in a November 11 report.

Second photo

With another reverse image search, we found this picture in a Dainik Bhaskar report dated August 16, 2019. It stated, “The Food Department is running a campaign against adulteration and consumption of contaminated goods in Gwalior. In view of the festive season, the Food and Drug Safety Department team raided a Jodhpur confectionery store in the city on Friday. Spoiled sweets and mawa were being mixed with new ingredients to make fresh sweets.” The article further says that the Food Safety team of the Food Department recovered more than 250 kg of contaminated laddus, pedas, rasgullas, and imartis from the Jodhpur Mishtan Bhandar. During the raid, the shop manager and the staff tried to misbehave with the team. Following this, two cases, under the Food Safety Act and for obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties, were filed against the owner.

On August 17, 2019, Patrika also published a report covering the raid at Gwalior’s Jodhpur Mishtan Bhandar.

Old and unrelated photos of raids at confectionary shops were shared on social media by linking them to the recent Bihar assembly elections. The first viral image is actually from Haryana while the second is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

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.