Old Pic of Yogi at Kumbh Mela Falsely Linked to Him Testing COVID+

The image is from 2019 when Yogi Adityanath had visited the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

An old image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister taking a dip at Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in 2019 is being shared with a false claim.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An old image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath taking a dip at Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in 2019 is being shared to insinuate that the CM tested positive for coronavirus after attending this year’s Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar.

CLAIM

The claim along with the image reads: “#योगी_आदित्यनाथ हुए #कोरोना पोज़िटिव, ये कौनसी #जमात में जाकर आये थे! #पूछता_है_भारत (sic)”

(Translated: Yogi Adityanath tested positive for coronavirus, which congregation did he go to.)

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

Several social media users shared the image on Facebook and Twitter with similar claims. The archived version of the posts can be viewed here , here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We conducted a reverse image search on Google and came across a Deccan Herald article from 2019 that carried a photo of Yogi Adityanath with same people as seen in the viral image.

The description along with the image mentioned that the image is from the 2019 Kumbh Mela that took place in Prayagraj.

(Source: Website/ Screenshot)

We then ran a search on Google with relevant keywords and came across an NDTV article from January 2019 that carried a portion of the viral image.

(Source: Website/ Screenshot)

We also searched on PTI image archives and found that the viral image was captured by the news agency when Yogi Adityanath took a holy dip at Sangam during the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in 2019.

(Source: Website/ Screenshot)

Further, no reports suggest that Adityanath took part in the Kumbh this year.

As India continues to reel under the new surge of COVID-19 cases, over 2,000 new cases were reported from the Kumbh Mela between 10 to 14 April.

Evidently, an old image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath taking a dip at Kumbh Mela was passed off as a recent one.

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