West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was tested COVID-19 positive on October 16. NDTV reported Ghosh was admitted to the high dependency unit at a private hospital. On October 18, Ghosh thanked people in a tweet for sending recovery wishes. Amidst this, an image of bed-ridden Ghosh has been shared with the claim that BJP leaders did not wear masks while visiting him.

Facebook page The Positive Indian shared the image with the text, "Meeting COVID Positive Dilip Ghosh without wearing any Mask. Only BJP Leaders can Show Such Courage." It was shared close to 700 times. (archived link)

The photo was shared on Twitter as well. One such user was @_TheEnigmous. Along with the viral text, he tagged BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya. (archived link)

This tweet was retweeted by Twitter account @TMC_Supporters that has 18,000 followers.

Even Zee News Bengla published this image in a report (archived link) on Ghosh contracting coronavirus. Similar reports were carried by Bengali news outlets Deshbidesh (archived link) and Banglanewslive (archived link).

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Image is from 2018

Alt News performed a Google reverse image search and found that the viral image was published by Bengali news outlet Kolkota 24x7 in January 2018.

As per the report, Ghosh was admitted for a slip disc surgery in a private hospital. The same was reported by ABP Ananda.

According to The Indian Express, Ghosh was admitted to a private hospital with complaints of severe back pain. "His primary diagnosis showed he is suffering from prolapsed intervertebral disc, a press release issued by the hospital said."

West Bengal BJP MP Arjun Singh told Alt News, "Dilip ji is recovering well. The claim is baseless because no visitors are allowed to meet COVID-19 patients."

On October 19, BJP member and former Governor of Tripura Tathagata Roy tweeted, "Good news this morning. Dilip Ghosh is improving, out of ICU. Get well soon."

Thus, a 2018 image of West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was carried by Zee News while reporting that he tested positive for COVID-19. The image was shared on social media with claims that BJP members visited him without wearing masks.