Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal leader Suvendu Adhikari tweeted a video on Republic Day which of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Purna Chandra Bauri standing in front of his party flag while singing the national anthem. Adhikari tweeted the video with the misleading claim that a TMC flag was unfurled in place of the Indian national flag on January 26, 2022.
However, BOOM found that both the national flag and TMC flag were unfurled on that day, with the the national flag seen in other visuals from the event on a separate flag pole hoisted higher than TMC's party flag. We also contacted Bauri who denied the claim stating that national flag was hoisted at the event which cannot be seen in the viral video tweeted by Adhikari.
In the viral video, the TMC leader can be seen with a group of people singing the national anthem while the TMC party flag can be seen in front of them.
The 26 seconds video was tweeted by Adhikari with the caption, "Shameful that TMC members are desecrating the National Anthem in the presence of @AITCofficial Ex MLA; Purna Chandra Bauri of Raghunathpur Assembly of Purulia & other leaders. Also, unfurling TMC flag in place of National Flag to celebrate Republic Day is extremely unfortunate."
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The same video was also tweeted by other right-wing accounts with the misleading claim.
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Lokmat Hindi and Asianet Newsable also misreported on the viral video while crediting it to Adhikari.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the claim is misleading and other visuals from the event show that TMC leader Purna Chandra Bauri hoisted the Indian flag at the same spot which cannot be seen in the viral video.
Taking a hint from Suvendu Adhikari's tweet, we searched with specific keywords like 'Purna Chandra Bauri', 'Raghunathpur', and found photos and videos posted by TMC pages which showed that the Indian Flag was also hoisted at the spot and was taller than the flag pole where the TMC flag was unfurled.
We also contacted Bauri who denied the claim that the party flag was hoisted instead of the national flag stating that first the national flag was hoisted which can be seen in other photos and videos from the event. "The BJP leaders were not successful in spreading false news against us as we have proof from the event which exposed their false claim. We follow the rule of law and the constitution. They deliberately tried to mislead by sharing a clip where the national flag could not be seen," Bauri told BOOM.
Raghunathpur TMC's Facebook Page - Raghunathpurer Gorbo Mamata" (Raghunathpur's pride Mamata) had posted photos from the event on January 26 countering the claim. Here we can see the national flag at the spot which cannot be seen in the viral video.
(In English - Today, a post is being distorted. The image is being cropped by some brokers to create the buzz. If you have the guts, share the long video, I have shared the real one.)
Purnachandra Bauri Facebook page also posted a video from the event where he can be seen hoisting the national flag.
(In English - Yesterday, on Republic day, BJP leader Suvendu Adikhari tried to malice Trinamool Congress by using a video. I would request to watch the video shot on same moment. We don't nurture same culture in Trinamool Congress. We obey the texts of the Constitution of India wholly. This culture has been harbored by BJP to mislead people.)
On comparing the visuals including other photos and video, from the event, we can see the national flag hoisted at the spot. Additionally in the viral tweet itself, we can see a second white circle where the national flag was present but could not be seen in the viral video.
We can see from the visuals below that both the flags were there and the TMC party flag was not hoisted instead of the national flag.
