BJP Maharashtra asks voters to vote for Gujarat's progress? No, poster is edited

What's the claim?

A viral photo on social media purports to show an election campaign ad by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Indian state of Maharashtra, asking voters to support the Mahayuti alliance for a different state's (Gujarat's) progress. 

While the BJP does govern Gujarat, there is no basis to suggest that the Mahayuti alliance coming to power in Maharashtra would impact Gujarat’s rate of progress.

The Mahayuti alliance—comprising the BJP, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Shiv Sena—is actively campaigning for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, which are set for November 20, 2024. The election results will be announced on November 23. 

As campaign efforts intensify, the circulated image appears on the back of a four-wheeler, prominently featuring Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah. The text on the ad allegedly states, "BJP-Mahayuti means speedy development of Gujarat." alongside a message urging voters to support the Grand Alliance. 

This image shared widely on X (formerly Twitter) with Marathi captions translated as, "Vote for BJP grand alliance for the progress of Gujarat…" garnered substantial engagement, with some posts receiving over 1,200 likes and 27,000 views. Archives of the posts can be found here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of X posts. (X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, our analysis indicates that the viral image has been digitally altered.

What did we find?

Upon examining the image, it was clear that it had been altered—the word "Gujarat" was inserted and stands out from the rest of the sentence, indicating a deliberate modification.

Screenshot of the viral ad highlighting the altered sentence, where the word "Gujarat" was added, standing out from the rest of the text. (X/Modified by Logically Facts)

A reverse image search led us to the original BJP Maharashtra ad, which featured Modi and Fadnavis along with the authentic slogan. This ad, aired by GB NEWS (archived here), a local Marathi news channel, concluded with the message: "BJP-Mahayuti means speedy development of Maharashtra." (Marathi: भाजप-महायुती आहे तर गती आहे महाराष्ट्राची प्रगती आहे).

Screenshot from of the ad, aired by GB NEWS, a local Marathi news channel. (Source: YouTube/Modified by Logically Facts)

Additionally, MAHASATTA, a Marathi newspaper, published a similar poster featuring Modi and Fadnavis alongside BJP's campaign promise of ₹1,500 per month for women, with the same slogan emphasizing Maharashtra's progress.

Screenshot from Mahasatta, which published a similar poster of Modi and Fadnavis featuring the original slogan. (Source: Mahasatta epaper)

BJP Maharashtra also posted a video (archived here) on its official YouTube channel that included the same slogan, and another campaign video (archived here) ended with the same poster.

The original slogan clearly focused on Maharashtra's progress, not Gujarat's, proving that the viral image was manipulated.

The verdict

The original BJP Maharashtra campaign ad promoted Maharashtra's progress, not Gujarat's. The viral photo's text has been edited to falsely suggest the ad urged voters in Maharashtra to support Gujarat's progress.