A set of images of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has gone viral with the claim that the bandage on her leg has shifted from the left to the right one, insinuating that she faked her injury.
However, we found that Banerjee’s image has been flipped to make the false claim. She was discharged from the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on 12 March, two days after she was injured while campaigning in Nandigram.
CLAIM
The claim, along with the images, reads: “In two days Bandage dressing changed from left to right leg. This is what happens when director does not know the script or the director is changed in between shots.[sic.]”
Several social media users shared it on Twitter and Facebook with the same claim.
The Quint also received a query on the claim being made in the image on its WhatsApp tipline.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We conducted a Google reverse image search on the picture in which Mamata Banerjee can be seen on a wheelchair. This led us to a News18 Bengali article in which one can see the injury in her left leg.
In an earlier reported article, The Quint had incorporated visuals of the West Bengal Chief Minister coming out the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on 12 March, two days after she was injured in Nandigram.
In this video, too, one can see that it’s her left leg that was injured.
The Indian Express also carried images of Banerjee leaving the hospital with her left leg being injured.
We found that the viral image is a flipped version of the original one.
Further, Mamata's image on a hospital bed was shared by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee.
Evidently, a flipped image of Mamata Banerjee has been shared to claim that her leg injury “changed from left to right” in two days.
Earlier, a morphed image of the West Bengal Chief Minister had gone viral with a claim that she "walked" away from her wheelchair, insinuating that her leg injury is just an election gimmick. You can read our fact-check here.
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