A photo of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel posing for the cameras after receiving the second dosage of the COVID-19 vaccination is being circulated, accompanied by the bogus assertion that he did not receive the vaccination and feigned it.
In the viral photo, a nurse can be seen giving Baghel the injection while the needle cap on the syringe is still on, leading to false allegations.
The photo was tweeted by Neetu Dabas, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Spokesperson with the caption when translated reads, “The Congress government of Chhattisgarh has invented a new technology in which the vaccine can be administered directly to the Chief Minister without removing the “needle cap” from the syringe. This wonderful idea must have been given by Rahul Gandhi to the Chief Minister.”
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After receiving the second dosage of the COVID-19 vaccination, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel posed for media in the viral photo, in which the nurse is seen holding a syringe with the needle cap intact.
On May 27, 2021, Baghel received his second dose of COVID-19 vaccination from staff Nurse Kavita Nirala at Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College in Raipur. The Chief Minister was joined by a number of other dignitaries, including Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Yadav, Dean of Raipur Medical College Dr. Vishnu Dutt, and Raipur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Meera Baghel.
Dr Meera Baghel, Raipur Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), who was present when the second dosage was delivered to Chief Minister Baghel, acknowledged that he had received it. The viral photo was shot after that, according to CMHO Baghel, since picture journalists on the scene had asked CM Baghel to stand for the cameras because they wanted another snapshot.
“He (CM Baghel) had already taken the second dose which some photojournalists present there who could not capture, after which they had requested him to pose again. So he posed for them with the nurse holding another syringe with had a needle cap on as can be seen in the viral photo,” Baghel told.
The same photo was also posted by CM Baghel on Facebook stating that he had taken the second dose.
