Fact Check: ‘420’ ads on Hyderabad Metro pillars attack Congress, CM Revanth Reddy? No, viral image is edited
An image of advertisements displaying ‘420’ on Hyderabad Metro pillars, questioning CM Revanth Reddy’s government and Congress’ poll promises, has gone viral.
By K Sherly Sharon Published on 29 Jan 2025 6:59 PM IST
Claim: The image shows advertisement boards on Hyderabad metro pillars displaying ‘420’, targeting CM Revanth Reddy and the Congress government.
Fact: The claim is false. The image has been edited.
Hyderabad: An image of advertisement boards at the base of two metro pillars in Hyderabad is going viral. The ad boards feature a large blue question mark each and the number ‘420’ above them.
Those sharing the image claim that the messages on the ad boards are criticism of chief minister A Revanth Reddy-led Telangana Congress government and its ‘420’ promises. The number 420 is used locally as in reference to a fraud or a confidence trickster.
The image was shared on X with the caption: “Sensational 420 ads on metro pillars in Hyderabad! Posters appeared without Revanth’s photo, with just ‘420’. There’s talk that the posters were intended to question Congress’ 420 promises.” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)
Similar claims were found on Facebook and Instagram. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The advertisement boards in the viral image have been edited with the question marks and the number 420 digitally added on top of the real advert boards.
The viral image showed a person riding a two-wheeler and a woman in a brown sari crossing the road. The second pillar displayed the L&T Metro logo and the text ‘DGC 15’.
On closer inspection, the advertisements on the metro pillars appeared distorted. The question mark was misaligned on the poster—the circle around the question mark on the first ad board was out of the frame—which indicated that the image could have been manipulated.
A reverse image search led us to a photo on the website of Leadspaces, an outdoor advertising company. We found the uncropped version of the viral image. Except for the content on the ad boards, everything else was identical to the viral image.
A comparison of the two images can be found below: the woman, the bike driver and the letters ‘DGC 15’ are highlighted as similarities. (Archive)
The image on the Leadspaces website showed the metro pillar numbers as C-1768 and C-1769, which have been covered up in the viral image. Using Google Street View, we found the pillars located between the Durgam Cheruvu and Hitec City Metro Stations.
NewsMeter took the latest photographs of the C 1768 and C 1769 metro pillars and the current advertisements displayed on them. The images can be seen below.
This confirmed that no such ‘420’ advertisement existed at the location as of January 28 as mentioned in the claim. We did not find any credible news reports that mentioned the appearance of such ad boards on other metro pillars in the city.
Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false. The image was edited to include ‘420’ and the question mark.
