CLAIM
A photo of a group of young men posing in T-shirts with ‘ISIS’ written on them is doing the rounds on social media. The claim, along the photo, alleges that the photo was taken on 23 April after polling took place in Kerala's Wayanad, from where the Congress has fielded its president, Rahul Gandhi.
The Quint received a query on WhatsApp asking to verify the authenticity of the claim.
The message circulating along the photo says, "This is the photo after the polling in Wayanad, Kerala on 23 April. People wearing T-shirts of ISIS is clearly visible. Voting Congress means making India an Islamic."
Twenty constituencies in Kerala went to polls in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
FACT
The claim is fake and the photo is not from after the polling day in Wayanad on Tuesday, 23 April.
On performing a simple reverse image search, it revealed that the photo originally dates back to 2014 when a group of 26 Muslim youth had caused a flutter after posing in black T-shirts which said “ISIS”.
It was not taken in Kerala either and was actually clicked in Thondi town in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram.
According to a report by The Hindu, none of the men in the photo were connected to the organisation, but later a Tirupur-based Imam was arrested by the police who had procured the T-shirts.
Multiple reports of the incident clarifies that the claim made along the video is false. Kerala’s Wayanad constituency has been making headlines even before the polling began since Rahul Gandhi decided to contest from there.
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