Image of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus is being shared with a misleading claim - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 17, 2023
Following Bhajan Lal Sharma’s swearing-in as the new chief minister of Rajasthan, a social media post featuring an image of him boarding a bus is gaining widespread attention. The accompanying claim suggests that this image depicts Bhajan Lal Sharma traveling as an ordinary citizen on a government bus just two months ago. This article aims to verify the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: Image ofBhajan Lal Sharma traveling as an ordinary citizen on a government bus just two months before becoming the CM of Rajasthan
Fact: This image of Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus was taken when he was apprehended and transported in a bus, during a protest (“NahiSahegaRajasthan”) against the Ashok Gehlot government, in August 2023. This image is being circulated with misleading claim. Hence the claim made in the post is Misleading.
The photo does capture Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma of Rajasthan boarding a bus; however, it was taken during a protest against the Ashok Gehlot government, and not in the context as described in the viral post. Google search using relevant keywords led us to a recent news report discussing the viral images of the newly elected Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. According to the article, the image currently viral was captured during a protest.
Taking a cue, further search on Bhajan Lal Sharma’s social media accounts yielded images associated with the protest where he was apprehended and transported in a bus (here & here). One of the pictures shows the individual in a blue kurta standing behind Bhajan Lal, matching the person in the viral image.
This confirms that the viral image is from this protest. The accompanying description indicates that these images are associated with the “NahiSahegaRajasthan” event organized by the BJP against the Congress government in August 2023.
The protest organized by the Rajasthan BJP unit was broadcast live on their YouTube channel and can be viewed here & here. News reports related to the protest can be viewed here.
To sum it up, the image of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma boarding a bus is being shared with a misleading claim.