So how many people turned up for the opposition rally organised by RJD chief Lalu Prasad at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan?
Ever since people started assembling in the morning, different images of crowd were doing the rounds on social media.
Prasad, ditched recently by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and keen to put the blow to opposition unity behind, tweeted a picture of a packed Gandhi Maidan. The image immediately caught the attention of Twitter users as well as the BJP and JD-U, the targets of the opposition’s show of strength.
Within an hour, Bihar’s deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted a photograph showing most of the maidan empty and wondered if there were indeed 2.5 million people in attendance as claimed by the RJD chief.
{{/usCountry}}Within an hour, Bihar’s deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted a photograph showing most of the maidan empty and wondered if there were indeed 2.5 million people in attendance as claimed by the RJD chief.
{{/usCountry}}Prasad’s picture was liked and re-tweeted several times. Some RJD supporters also shared it on WhatsApp and Facebook.
But, not everyone was buying it. Many on Twitter pointed out that the picture was morphed, some police officers, on duty at the rally ground, agreed but refused to be quoted.
A spot check revealed that the rally got a good response but not as good as was claimed the Prasad’s post.
His son, Tejashwi, was more pragmatic. “Can anyone count stars in sky? Same is in Patna, no one can count lakhs of lacs people gathered in Gandhi Maidan,” he tweeted.
RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha had a word of advice for media. “Request friends from media at least 4 once 2 set aside their fear & have d courage 2 show lacs of people at Gandhi Maidan. Jai Hind,” he tweeted.
On the picture tweeted by Prasad, Jha said it was a mistake by someone managing the Twitter handle of the RJD chief and has been “perhaps corrected”.
“But the strength of people at the rally was seen to be believed. There is no need to look for unnecessary controversies. The message has gone loud and clear and enough to unnerve the Doubting Thomases,” he said.
Last seen the picture was very much there and no one had “corrected” it.
Here are some mixed reactions on Twitter: