A morphed image of Trinamool Congress MLA Suvendu Adhikari and Jagat Prakash Nadda, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is doing the rounds on Facebook with claims that the former has joined BJP amidst much fanfare.
Suvendu Adhikari, a heavy weight South Bengal leader of TMC, recently resigned from various state government portfolios including the post of minister of transport of the government of West Bengal. However, he did not resign from the Assembly and remains an MLA. Adhikari led the Nandigram anti-land acquisition tide that brought Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011. Post the resignation, a meeting between him and TMC MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Sougata Roy, Sudip Bandhopadhyay and poll strategist Prashant Kishor did not yield any positive results. The image is viral in the backdrop of speculations about Adhikari's next move.
The edited image has been shared on Facebook with a caption in Bangla which reads, "Pishi's heart has broken. Suvendu babu has come."
Banerjee is referred to as pishi (Aunt) by the right wing trolls.
(Original text in Bangla: পিসি মনির মনটা ভেঙে গেলো শুভেন্দু বাবু চলে এলো)
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found the original image, which features former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia with JP Nadda. The image was taken in March this year after Scindia joined the BJP at the party headquarters, ending his 18-year association with the Congress.
Scindia considered the political move to be one of the most important ones in his life. While interacting with the press, he said, there had been two life-changing events for him, "one, the day I lost my father and the second, yesterday when I decided to choose a new path for my life."
Several other images from Scindia's felicitation ceremony by JP Nadda and other leaders in Delhi on March 11, a day after resigning from the Congress party, can be viewed in the photo gallery of News18.
A comparison of both images can be seen below.
BOOM also reached out to Adhikari amidst speculations of him joining the BJP. The article will be updated as and when he responds. In an interaction with the Indian Express about Adhikari planning to join the BJP, Mukul Roy, party's national vice president, said, "Suvendu is a product of mass movements. The dilemma over this issue will be clear in a day or two."
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