An advertorial by the Uttar Pradesh government on the cover page of The Indian Express is causing a lot of buzz on social media. The advertorial carries the images of the chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a bridge going by the side of big buildings and a factory.
The advertorial with the title “Transforming Uttar Pradesh Under Yogi Adityanath” talks about the increase in investment and improvement in the infrastructure of the state in the last four and half years. It claims there was less investment in the state before 2016, however, since 2017 the economy of the state has grown rapidly. It also claims that Uttar Pradesh emerged as the second-largest economy in the country in 2020 and in the next five years the state will be the largest economy of the country on the basis of investment and infrastructure.
However, the buzz is not about the claims but the images of the flyover and factory used in the advertorial. Several Twitter users have claimed both the images are not from the state.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
NDTV journalist, Alok Pandey, first posted the image of the advertorial on Twitter and claimed that the flyover appears to be from Kolkata. The caption along with the post reads: “Dear @myogiadityanath Ji, whoever approved these images, please do tell them the flyover appears to be from Kolkata-the Maa Flyover. I can also spot a yellow taxi. And those tall buildings are the JW Marriot, also in Kolkata and by the same flyover if I am not mistaken @manishndtv”
Dear @myogiadityanath ji,whoever approved these images,please do tell them the flyover appears to be from Kolkata-the Maa Flyover.I can also spot a yellow taxi. And those tall buildings are the JW Marriot,also in Kolkata and by the same flyover if I am not mistaken😃 @manishndtv pic.twitter.com/POum6H7y4N
— Alok Pandey (@alok_pandey) September 12, 2021
A parody account Rofl Gandhi 2.0, posted the image of the advertorial alongside the image of Maa flyover of the Kolkata with the caption that reads: “आज से कोलकाता का नाम कानपुर #ChoriKaVikas” (Translation: From today the name of Kolkata is Kanpur.)
FactO Check:
Since so many users had pointed out that the image is of Maa flyover from Kolkata. We searched the image of the flyover using relevant keywords. The search led us to an article published on the website of The Times of India. The article carries the image of the Maa flyover and it has the same visuals as that of the image used in the advertorial of the UP government.
(Source: TOI/Screenshot)
To bring more clarity to our readers we have made a comparative collage image pointing out the same structures.
(Both the flyover images have identical blue strips.)
We reverse searched the image of the worker pointing towards the factory and found it used on many websites. The image is available free of cost on Shutterstock and is described as an “Engineer survey of oil refiner and control worker from a portable radio on storage tank in sunset background”. However, we couldn’t verify the exact location of the factory image.
(Source: Shutterstock/Screenshot)
After being called by the social media users. The India Express has regretted using the image in the advertorial and has removed it from all the digital editions of the newspaper.
A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper.
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) September 12, 2021
Conclusion:
The advertorial claiming the transformation of Uttar Pradesh under chief minister Yogi Adityanath used an image of a flyover from Kolkata.