Bihar Villagers Didn't Erect Board Warning to ‘Break Legs of BJP Members’

Social media users have been sharing the morphed image with different village names since 2018.

The board has been edited to include threatening messages for BJP workers.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

An edited photograph of a board outside a village has been doing the rounds on social media with a claim that BJP workers are prohibited from entering Ugna Jagdishpur in Bihar's Bhojpur, warning them that their legs will be broken if they do so.

Another version of the photograph claims that the sign is posted outside Kyotapatti in Kishanpur, Bihar with the same warning for BJP workers.

However, the sign board has been edited to add that the legs of BJP members will be broken if they try to enter the village. The board, which was posted outside Kachera Varsabad, a village in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, mentions that the village was adopted by BJP MLA Mahesh Sharma and BJP members are not allowed to enter.

CLAIM

Different versions of the board claim to be from different villages across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, stating that BJP workers would not be allowed to enter the village and their legs would be broken if they attempted to do so.

The archived version of this post can be accessed here.

(Photo: Facebook/Screenshot)

More versions of this claim on Facebook and Twitter can be seen here and here. We found versions of the claim on social media posted in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

WHAT WE FOUND

Using reverse image search, we found a tweet by user Ayushmaan Khari on 28 October, 2018 that carried the same image.

The sign in this tweet identified the village as Kachera Varsabad and read "सांसद महेश शर्मा द्वारा गोद लिया गया गांव" (MP Mahesh Sharma's adopted village). The user tagged MLA Mahesh Sharma and added that he might understand now.

The tweet contained the same photo and the user tagged the former MP.

(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)

We used keywords like 'Mahesh Singh adopted village' and found a news report on Scroll which mentioned that the villagers had put up the sign board in 2019 after protesting against a real estate project for nearly six months.

A side-by-side comparison between the viral image and image uploaded by news website Scroll. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The villagers were demanding higher compensation for the land which was acquired from them for a real estate project in 2010. They also alleged that they were promised roads, clean water and hospitals but the developer only built some roads in the region.

The report mentioned that the villagers had alleged that no BJP leader, including Sharma, ever came to help them. Another report by NDTV, published ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, mentioned the same details.

Clearly, a morphed photograph of a sign board outside Kacheda village in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida area is being shared on social media without any context.

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