A viral image showing the purported cover of the India Today Magazine's August 2023 edition has gone viral on the internet.
What is wrong with the image?: The cover image shows PM Narendra Modi with the title "Shameful Blunders" and shows images from the violence-gripped state of Manipur in the background. Users are sharing it with the hashtag "#NeverVoteBJP."
Former cricketer and TMC leader Kirti Azad too shared the claim and his post had more than 260K views while this article was being written.
An archive of the claim can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)
What is the truth?: The cover image of the magazine has been digitally altered to replace Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh's photograph with that of PM Modi.
How did we find out?: We ran a reverse Google image search and found the original India Today cover from 7 August.
This is the comparison between the viral image and the original cover.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
India Today's official X (formerly Twitter) handle also posted a clarification about the distorted cover image.
The post read that it was upon media houses to ensure the truth reaches the people. It, further, noted that legal action against offenders and individuals posting the fake images.
The official India Today website has the details of the original magazine cover.
The description of the cover story read, "by allowing Manipur’s wounds to fester, the state and central governments have pushed its people to a point of no return."
The cover notes inaction from the government's side caused "mayhem" in Manipur.
(Source: India Today Website/Screenshot)
The viral cover image also has "N Biren Singh CM, Manipur" in a tiny font which was also a sign that helped us understand that the cover image is distorted.
Here is the close-up of the mentioned text.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Conclusion: The latest edition of the India Today Magazine's cover has been digitally altered to replace CM Singh's photograph with PM Modi's photograph.
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