After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won assembly elections in West Bengal — a politically significant state — for the first time, a video was being widely shared on social media platforms.
Along with the video users claimed, “Jai Shri Ram chants echo at Howrah Bridge amid BJP lead.” The posts further claimed, “Kolkata witnessed high-energy scenes at Howrah Bridge as BJP supporters broke into celebrations, chanting Jai Shri Ram after early election trends showed the party crossing the majority mark in West Bengal.”
During the investigation Lighthouse Journalism found that the video is old and not linked to the recent West Bengal election results.
Claim:
X (formerly Twitter) user Bhargava shared the viral video with misleading claim.
Other users are also sharing the same video with similar claims.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by downloading keyframes from the viral video. We then ran a reverse image search on these keyframes.
We found similar keyframes in a viral video uploaded on Instagram on March 2.
The caption said: Howrah Bridge comes to a stand still as 10000+ people celebrated Holi in the grandest holi celebration of the City of Joy
Another video claimed this was “Rolls Royce Holi in Kolkata”.
The caption mentioned, location: Sree Satyanarayanjee Temple near Howrah Station, passing through Barabazar’s lanes after crossing the Howrah bridge.
We also found a video on Instagram posted on March 9 from the same Holi celebration, where the “Jai Shri Ram” chants were heard clearly.
It was the same video that was being shared with claims of being recent.
Rolls Royce Holi is a traditional Dol Jatra celebration in Kolkata, India, where a vintage 100-year-old Rolls Royce Phantom acts as a ceremonial chariot for Radha-Krishna idols. Hosted by the Bagla family, the procession moves from the Satyanarayan Temple, typically passing the Howrah Bridge.
Conclusion: The viral video of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants on Howrah Bridge is being misleadingly shared as a celebration following Bengal election results. However, the clip predates the polls. The viral video is old and the claim is misleading.
