New Delhi: A photo of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been widely shared on social media, with users claiming it to be from a recent meeting between the two and speculating a major political turnaround.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge can also be seen in the photo.
The PTI Fact Check Desk’s investigation found the claim to be false as the photo dates back to April 2023, when Nitish Kumar was seen as the prime face of the Opposition’s then-proposed INDIA bloc.
The photo was from one of the meetings of the opposition leaders held at the residence of Kharge in New Delhi. The old and unrelated photo was shared on social media as recent with a false claim.
Kumar walked out of the INDIA bloc and joined hands with the BJP-led NDA. He later emerged as a key alliance partner in the formation of the government at the Centre.
Sharing this picture on Facebook, a user wrote, “What can be the meaning of Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Nitish Kumar after losing Haryana? Must have played?”
To verify the claim, the desk reverse-searched the picture through Google Lens and came across the same image carried by Times Now Hindi in its report dated April 14, 2023.
According to the report, Kumar met with Gandhi at Kharge’s Delhi residence and discussed opposition unity. At that time, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav was also present with him.
During the investigation, we found the entire video of the meeting of the two leaders uploaded on Aaj Tak’s YouTube channel. The video report, published on April 12, 2023, stated that Kumar was meeting opposition leaders to strengthen opposition unity to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
From our investigation, it was clear that the viral photo was not recent but from April 2023. Users are now sharing the old photo as s recent one with the false claim.
