A video of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is being shared on social media (here, here, and here) claiming that, Nitish Kumar went to Lalu Yadav’s residence to meet him after he returned from Singapore after treatment. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Nitish Kumar went to Lalu Yadav’s residence to meet him after he returned from Singapore after treatment.
Fact: The viral video is from 5 September 2022 when Nitish Kumar’s JDU has joined forces with the RJD after leaving the BJP. In 2022, Nitish Kumar met with RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna before going to Delhi to discuss unity with leaders from different parties for the 2024 elections. The recent 3 September 2024 meeting between Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna about the information commissioner appointment is being misrepresented by an old video from 2022. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
The recent 3 September 2024 meeting (here and here) between Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna about the information commissioner appointment is being misrepresented by an old video from 2022, where Nitish Kumar met Lalu Prasad Yadav along with Tejashwi Yadav.
On performing a reverse image search using the keyframes of the viral video, we found that it was published by several media channels (here, here, and here) on 5 September 2022. As per the news reports, Nitish Kumar’s JDU has joined forces with the RJD after leaving the BJP. In 2022, he met with RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna before going to Delhi to discuss unity with leaders from different parties for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Further, we found that Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tejashwi Yadav also posted this on his X in September 2022 and wrote: “Respected Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar ji met respected National President Shri Lalu Yadav ji at his residence.” Moreover, reports indicate that Lalu Prasad Yadav returned from Singapore in February 2024 (here and here) after undergoing Kidney transplant surgery.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish Kumar left the I.N.D.I Alliance and rejoined the NDA in January 2024. He was sworn in as Chief Minister once again and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BJP.
To sum up, an old video of Nitish Kumar meeting Lalu Prasad Yadav is being shared as recent.
