BJP Did Not Post Old Kumbh Mela Photo As Crowd Gathered For Modi In UP
Several social media users have claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) misrepresented old Kumbh Mela photographs as massive crowd gathered to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to an Indian Air Force event in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
BOOM found that the visuals indeed show the crowd gathered for an Indian Air Force event in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi in October 2026.
Google AI Overview, Grok Get It Wrong
The posts shared alleged screenshots of Google AI Overview claiming that the photos showed devotees at the Hindu religious festival held earlier this year in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Several users also posted Community Notes on X based on the AI-generated findings. When users asked X's AI chatbot Grok to verify the images, it too incorrectly identified them as photographs from the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj's Triveni Sangam.
The claims surfaced after several Union ministers and BJP-affiliated handles shared the photographs, claiming they showed huge crowd to see PM Modi in Varanasi.
The Aam Aadmi Party's official Assam X handle wrote, "A downfall so bad, Modi’s PR has to recycle Mahakumbh photos to show his popularity. Crowds will come, Modi ji… but to demand your resignation, not your autograph."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
What We Found: Photos From the IAF Show in Varanasi, October 2026
1. Hindustan Times Published the Photo: A keyword search led us to a Hindustan Times post from October 25, 2026, featuring one of the photos shared by Goyal. The caption said spectators gathered at Varanasi’s Namo Ghat to watch Indian Air Force fighter jets perform aerial stunts during the ‘Wings over Ganges’ 2026 event. The photos were credited to Hindustan Times photographer Rajesh Kumar.
#InPhotos | Spectators gather at Varanasi’s Namo Ghat to witness breathtaking aerial stunts by Indian Air Force fighter jets during ‘Wings over Ganges’ 2026 on Sunday. (📸: Rajesh Kumar/Hindustan Times) 📲 For News on the go, download the HT app: https://t.co/HnoSSIo1qw https://t.co/WwaQF3XaKw
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) October 25, 2026
BOOM reached out to Kumar, who confirmed that the photograph is of the crowd gathered in Varanasi. Kumar told BOOM, “I received this photo on WhatsApp from someone who was present there. It was taken from the bridge at Rajghat around 12 pm to 1 pm, when a crowd had gathered to witness the IAF event on October 25, 2026. I did not take this photo, but I was present at the spot and can confirm its authenticity. The other photos published by Hindustan Times were taken by me."
2. Videos Show Massive Crowd at the IAF Event: We also found several videos shared by Instagram user Harshit Vishwakarma, including one filmed from the same bridge in Varanasi. The video shows a huge crowd gathered along the Ganga riverbank, with temporary structures similar to those visible in the viral visuals.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Harshit Vishwakarma (@furious_harshit_lohar)
3. The Same Watchtower Spotted: One of the photographs shared by Goyal also features a poster of a fighter jet. To further verify the visuals, we reviewed multiple videos of the event and found a YouTube vlog uploaded by Suraj Real Vlogs 2.0 on October 22, 2026. At the 5:11-minute mark, the video shows the same watchtower set up by the Uttar Pradesh Police to monitor the crowd, which is also visible in the viral photographs.
On October 25, Modi attended the final day of the Indian Air Force's ‘Wings Over Ganges’ air show at Varanasi's Namo Ghat as the chief guest. Organised to mark the IAF's 94th anniversary, the event was also attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
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