An image showing a stall at a railway station with Prime Minister Modi’s picture covered with paper is being widely shared accompanied by a claim that it depicts a shop at the Kozhikode railway station in Kerala, where the shop owner covered Modi’s face because pictures of Modi are not permitted there (here & here). In this article, we fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: PM Modi’s face was covered at the Kozhikode railway station because pictures of Modi are not allowed there.
Fact: The viral image is from March 2024, and the Palakkad railway authorities have clarified that it is an OSOP stall. They stated that Modi’s picture was covered according to ECI orders due to the MCC being in place during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral image was first shared in March 2024 with a similar claim about the Kozhikode railway station. A reverse image search revealed a tweet from 21 March 2024, that shared the same image with the same claim. However, the Southern Railway, Palakkad Division responded to the tweet, stating that Modi’s picture was covered in compliance with an Election Commission of India (ECI) order due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) being in effect.
As the same image has recently gone viral on social media again, the Palakkad Division railway authorities have responded to such tweets, clarifying that it is an old image. They explained that Modi’s face was covered following the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the 2024 General Elections. Additionally, the authorities shared a current image of the OSOP stall at Calicut railway station, where Modi’s picture is visible.
MCC guidelines:
In the lead-up to the 2024 General Elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) took effect on 16 March 2024 according to Election Commission of India (ECI) orders.
The MCC guidelines clearly state that the ‘issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided.’
According to this rule, images of leaders from the ruling party including those related to advertisements about government schemes, are also covered. News reports indicate that Railways have adhered to MCC guidelines by covering images of Modi (here & here). This supports the Palakkad authorities’ tweet, suggesting that the Modi image on the stall was covered following MCC guidelines.
OSOP stall:
In response to the Palakkad Division railway authorities’ clarification tweet, some social media users have raised doubts, questioning the explanation. They pointed out that the stall in the current image sells different products compared to the one in the viral image. However, It is important to note that the viral image displays “one station one product” written on the stall.
In the 2022-23 budget, the union government introduced the ‘one station-one product’ scheme. Under this initiative, the Railways will set up outlets, stalls, and kiosks to showcase, sell, and give high visibility to indigenous and local products.
According to the policy for implementing the OSOP scheme, stalls are temporarily allocated to local vendors for a period of 15 days. Allocations are made based on a priority roster, with each vendor receiving a maximum allotment of 15 days in one spell. This process continues until all applicants on the priority roster have been accommodated (here).
This supports the Palakkad authorities’ position that the current stall features different products compared to the viral image, as it is an OSOP stall assigned to a different person every 15 days.
To sum up, the picture of PM Modi at the Kozhikode railway station is covered due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in effect during the 2024 elections.
