Fact Check: Video Falsely Claims Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants Fleeing After BJP Victory in West Bengal

The viral footage widely circulated on social media purportedly showing illegal Bangladeshi immigrants fleeing West Bengal after the BJP’s victory over the TMC in recent assembly elections has been debunked as misleading.

Multiple fact-checking efforts have confirmed that the video actually depicts crowds attending Biswa Ijtema, one of the world’s largest Islamic congregations, held in the Hooghly district of West Bengal in January 2026.

In the viral clip, which has garnered significant attention amid post-election tensions, the person recording can be clearly heard mentioning “Biswa Ijtema,” contradicting claims about its political context. This revelation came to light as part of a broader pattern of misinformation following the electoral shift in West Bengal, where several unrelated videos have been repurposed to support political narratives.

Through reverse image search techniques, investigators traced the footage to its original source—an Instagram post by digital content creator Dip Ghosh dated January 5, 2026, months before the West Bengal elections took place. In his original caption, Ghosh explicitly described the scene as “Biswa Ijtema 2026 insane crowd,” confirming the religious nature of the gathering.

Ghosh later issued a clarification on his social media accounts, expressing concern over the misappropriation of his content. “This reel was shot five months ago during the Biswa Ijtema event and has absolutely no connection to any political development,” he stated, addressing the growing spread of the misleading narrative.

The Statesman newspaper had previously reported on January 3, 2026, that the Biswa Ijtema gathering in Hooghly district typically attracts between 5 to 10 million participants from around the world. Organized by Tablighi Jamaat, the 2026 event ran from January 2 to January 5—coinciding with the timestamp of Ghosh’s original footage.

This incident highlights the increasingly complex challenge of information verification in politically charged environments. The BJP’s victory over the long-ruling TMC marked a significant shift in West Bengal’s political landscape, creating fertile ground for such misinformation to spread rapidly across social media platforms.

Media literacy experts point to this case as emblematic of how genuine content can be decontextualized to reinforce political narratives. “During major political transitions, we often see a surge in misleading content as various actors attempt to shape public perception,” explained Dr. Anita Sharma, a digital misinformation researcher at Delhi University. “The speed at which such content spreads often outpaces verification efforts.”

This is not an isolated incident. Fact-checking organizations have recently debunked several other videos falsely connected to the West Bengal election results, including footage allegedly showing West Bengal police celebrating BJP’s victory and another clip falsely claiming to show Mamata Banerjee’s house set ablaze after the poll results.

For social media users, experts recommend basic verification steps before sharing politically charged content: checking the source, looking for contextual clues in the footage itself, and consulting established news outlets for confirmation of major developments.

As West Bengal navigates its new political reality, the incident serves as a reminder of how digital media can both inform and potentially mislead public discourse around significant democratic transitions.