Photo of 2019 Left Front rally in Kolkata shared as recent by Congress members

West Bengal Legislative Assembly is scheduled to be held between March 27 to April 29, 2021 in eight phases. As political parties rack up campaigning efforts, several media users have posted an image of a massive crowd at an election rally.

As per Congress national convener Saral Patel and Congress media panellist Pankhuri Pathak, the image shows Congress-Left rally in Kolkata. These tweets were retweeted over 6,000 times cumulatively.

कलकत्ता में आज कांग्रेस – लेफ्ट की जनसभा । pic.twitter.com/8yF6a6PFMW

— Pankhuri Pathak पंखुड़ी पाठक پنکھڑی (@pankhuripathak) February 28, 2021

Sea of people throngs at the Joint Rally of @INCIndia & @CPIM_WESTBENGAL at Brigade Ground in the Heart of Kolkata!

This shows the anger of people in West Bengal, This will surely give sleepless nights to rulers in Delhi as well as Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/XtAH9y52DW

— Saral Patel (@SaralPatel) February 28, 2021

On February 28, NDTV reported after a decade of losing power, the Left Front, in alliance with the Congress and the newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF), projected itself as a “third alternative force” in the emerging Trinamool Congress versus BJP political binary. They held a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.

Several other Congress Twitter accounts, including West Bengal Congress, also posted this image.

Massive anger against #BJP compels millions to attend today’s joint rally of Congress, CPI(M) and Indian Secular Front (ISF) at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Grounds.#JobKiBaat#KisanKiBaat pic.twitter.com/2wd6tF4Q4f

— Rofl Republic (@i_the_indian_) February 28, 2021

A Hindi message (1, 2) shared by several users says that the image represents the first rally of Congress and the Left in Kolkata.

(Viral Hindi text: कोलकाता में आज कांग्रेस और लेफ़्ट की पहली रैली हुई लेकिन त्रिकोणीय मुक़ाबले में किसका फ़ायदा होगा?)

Image from 2019 shared as recent

Alt News performed a reverse image and found that Social News XYZ had published the image in 2019. The caption stated that the image shows a Left Front rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata on February 3, 2019. The photo is credited to IANS. The image was also published by two other websites (1, 2) in February 2019.

In 2020, the Communist Party of India tweeted the viral image and said, “A bird eye view of last year Birgade Rally at #Kolkata”.

An image from the 2019 Left Front rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata was reshared as their recent rally held ahead of West Bengal polls. Congress members and official social media accounts posted this image. However, it is noteworthy that similar visuals of the rally held at Brigade Parade ground on February 28 also show a massive turnout.

बदलाव का संकल्प जब क्रांति का रूप लेता है, तो कुछ ऐसा दिखता है।

न कपड़ों से पहचान पाओगे, न रंग से, न मजहब से।

(कोलकाता का ब्रिगेड परेड ग्राउंड ) @INCWestBengal @adhirrcinc #PeoplesBrigade pic.twitter.com/SMJscVh7Eh

— Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) February 28, 2021

8 lakh people strong historic rally at Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata organised by Samyukta Morcha, the alliance between INC and the Left parties. #BanglaBachao #AdhirAsharBrigade #PeoplesBrigade #Brigade2021 pic.twitter.com/j1HT3T1uge

— WB Youth Congress (@IYCWestBengal) February 28, 2021