A morphed image of Union Minister Smriti Irani looking at a photograph of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on her laptop screen amidst the latter's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is viral on social media with a false claim that Irani is keeping a close eye on Gandhi's campaign.
BOOM found that the image is digitally manipulated. The original photograph dates back to December 2020 and does not feature Rahul Gandhi on Irani's laptop screen as shown.
On September 7 the Indian National Congress launched its nationwide foot march campaign called the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (Uniting India Rally) in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The party said that the objective of the rally is to 'ensure that the concerns and demands of the people reach Delhi'; The rally will end in Srinagar. During the march participants including Rahul Gandhi will walk through several states, Read here.
The Hindi caption with the photo translates to, "Keeping a close eye on Rahul Gandhi in Bharat Jodo Yatra".
(Original Text in Hindi: भारत जोड़ो यात्रा में राहुल गाँधी पर पैनी नज़र रखे हुए है भैं)
Click here to view the post.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM performed a reverse image search on the viral photograph to know its details and found the original one on an Instagram post uploaded by Smriti Irani's official profile on December 8, 2020.
The picture is captioned as, "pandemic mornings".
Click here to view the post.
We noticed, in contrast to the viral picture, Rahul Gandhi's photo is not there on Irani's laptop screen. Additionally, the colour of the liquid present in the glass has been morphed in the viral photograph to make it appear as alcohol.
The comparison between the viral picture and the original image can be seen below.