2013 Image of BJP MP Pragya Thakur Shared With a Misleading Claim

The photo is actually from 2013 when Pragya Thakur was admitted after she complained of breathing difficulties.

An old photo of BJP MP Pragya Thakur is being widely shared on social media with the claim that she is being admitted to Kokilaben Hospital for allopathic treatment.

This comes a short while after the MP made a statement that she drinks gaumutra or cow urine every day and that it offers protection against COVID-19 and lung infections.

However, we found that the viral image dates back to January 2013, when Thakur was being taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital in Bhopal after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

CLAIM

The image is shared with a snide claim in Hindi, which reads “कोकिलाबेन अस्पताल में एलोपैथिक ट्रीटमेंट देकर सांसद को मारने की कोशिश तो नहीं हो रही है..? काश ! इनके लिए कोई गौमूत्र उपलब्ध करा देता....”

[Translation: Are you trying to kill the MP by giving allopathic treatment in Kokilaben Hospital? Alas! If someone would provide cow urine for them ....]

Many social media users shared the image with the same claim. More posts on Facebook can be found here and here. Claims on Twitter can be found here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We did a reverse image search on the photo and found news reports from 2013, carrying the same image.

In an article dated 10 January 2013, The Hindu reported that Thakur had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

At the time, Thakur was living in detention at the Bhopal Central Jail as she was one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

We found another report by Scoopwhoop from 2016, which carried the image and credited it to PTI.

On examining PTI’s archives, we found the same image dated 9 January 2013, whose caption said that it showed Thakur on the way to Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Evidently, this is not a recent image of Thakur on her way to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. The MP was admitted to the hospital in March 2021 after she complained she had breathing difficulties.

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