2018 Photo Of Kerala CM Sitting In Candlelight Peddled As Recent

The Kochi edition of Times of India recently tweeted an image of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family lighting lamps in his official residence. The caption in the tweet claimed that Vijayan was participating in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to observe a blackout and light candles and lamps on April 5, 2020 to dispel the darkness brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This claim is false; the image is from 2018 and shows Vijayan and his family observing Earth Hour. While news reports state that his official residence did turn of lights on April 5, there is no evidence of him lighting up candles or lamps.

There are recent news reports stating that the lights at Cliff House were indeed turned off on April 5 at 9 pm and that members of his house staff had shone torch light in solidarity. However, none of the reports mention Vijayan taking part in lighting candles during this time.

Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party Tamil Nadu's Youth Wing, SG Suryah, shared the image of Vijayan, with another image of Puducherry Chief Minister Velu Narayanasamy with the caption: "Just TWO images tel us clear result of PM @narendramodi's #9MinutesForIndia call! Ideologically opposite #Communist's only CM Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan & BJP's staunchest rival #Congress Pondicherry CM Narayanasamy standing with PM Modi today! Nothing else tells you a better story!"

Adding to the thread, Suryah said, "Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's photo sourced from @TOIKochiNews ! Tweet URL & screenshot of the same attached in this tweet for people claiming it to be fake! If it's fake, you should question Times of India & not howl at me."

The URL took us to a deleted tweet by TOI Kochi. However, we did find an archive of the tweet which shared the image with the caption: "Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family switch off lights and light diyas in support of PM's call."

Fact Check

Using a range of keyword searches, we found another image of Vijayan and his family sitting in candle light, which has stark similarities with the image shared by TOI Kochi. It shows him sitting with his wife, daughter and grandson in the verandah of his official residence called Cliff House, in the exact same position as in the viral image.

This image was published by the Kerala edition of The New Indian Express on it's front page on March 25, 2018. The caption reads: "Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, wife Kamala, daughter Veena and grandson Ishan sit in the light of a candle on the verandah of Cliff House as they observe Earth Hour."