A photograph (here and here) allegedly depicting former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar vacating his official residence has been increasingly shared on various social media platforms. The claim is that this photograph was captured when Khattar packed his belongings to leave his official residence soon after his resignation. We fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: The viral image shows former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar vacating his official residence carrying minimum luggage.
Fact: The image in question is an old one, which has been available on the internet since 2019, long before Khattar’s resignation as the Chief Minister on 12 March 2024. Thus, the claim attached to the post is False.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we performed a reverse image search. This led us to several old posts (here, here, and here) on social media, dating back to 2019 and 2020, that featured the same image but attached to different contexts, such as the farm bills of 2020.
This evidence confirms that the image predates Khattar’s resignation as the Chief Minister, which took place on 12 March 2024 (here and here). Hence, it could not possibly be a photograph of Khattar vacating his official residence post-resignation.
Additionally, a thorough search through recent news reports and Manohar Lal Khattar’s official social media handles did not yield any posts or information about him leaving his official residence carrying minimum luggage.
A careful comparison of the viral image with photos of Manohar Lal Khattar raises doubts if the person in the viral image is indeed Khattar. However, we could not independently verify the identity of the person in the viral image and the context. Its availability on the internet way before Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation proves that it has nothing to with what is being claimed in the viral post.
To sum up, the photograph in the viral claim predates Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation and does not depict him vacating his official residence after resignation.
