A member of the All India Trinamool Congress party, Kirti Azad (Archived link), recently posted an image on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. In the image, BJP supporters are seen staging a protest outside Canara Bank. Alongside the picture, Kirti Azad commented, “Mistaking Canara Bank for Canada, Sanghis from the BJP is protesting in front of it.”
Notably, besides Kirti Azad, the identical image with the same claim was also disseminated by Pratap Solanki (Archived link), who according to his X bio serves as the Social Media State Coordinator for the SC Department of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat, as well as by a Congress supporter identified under the username @/Lalit30524467 (Archived link).
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Fact Check
At the start of our research, we ran a reverse image search on Google, leading to the discovery of an article on maalaimar.com (Archived link). This article, dated August 30, 2020, featured the same image that had been shared by Kirti Azad and others on the X platform.
Crucially, the caption accompanying the image on maalaimar.com left no room for ambiguity, explicitly stating, “This photograph was taken during a BJP protest in Ooty.” Intrigued by the image and its context, we delved into the article to uncover the underlying reasons behind this protest.
In August 2020, within the Nilgiri District of Ooty, a situation had arisen which revolved around the installation of a new flagpole to hoist the BJP party flag in a particular location. It came to light that the requisite permissions had not been sought for the placement of this flagpole on municipal land.
Subsequently, in response to this unauthorized flagpole installation, Municipal Commissioner Saraswati lodged a formal complaint at the Ooty City Central Police Station. Consequently, municipal staff and law enforcement officials undertook the removal of the flagpole, which had been erected without proper authorization.
In the wake of these events, members affiliated with the BJP swiftly initiated protests against the municipal administration for their actions in removing the flagpole. Notably, the protests were spearheaded by Ooty city president Praveen, and during these demonstrations, slogans were raised in condemnation of the municipal authorities’ actions.
Therefore, based on the information provided in the maalaimar.com article, it becomes clear that the assertion suggesting that BJP members were protesting outside Canara Bank, mistakenly believing it to be Canada Bank, is unfounded and deceptive. Additionally, when comparing the image circulated by Kirti Azad and others with the one featured in the article, it becomes apparent that the image shared by the former group had been altered, as there is no Canara Bank nameplate visible outside the gate in the image presented in the article.
| Claim | The BJP protested outside the Canara Bank mistaking it for Canada Bank |
| Claimed by | Kirti Azad, Pratap Solanki and X user |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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