In the recently declared results, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc secured 233 seats while the BJP, as the single largest party, obtained 240 seats. Despite their lead, the BJP fell short of the majority, requiring the support of allies to form the government. Including the NDA allies, their total comes to 293 seats. In this context, a series of images showing Nitish Kumar, an NDA ally, with I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders have been circulating on social media, sparking speculation that Nitish Kumar might join the I.N.D.I.A. bloc (here, here & here). This article will fact-check the veracity of these claims associated with the photos.
Claim: Photos of Nitish Kumar meeting with I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders after the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
Fact: These photos are old, taken when Nitish Kumar met with I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders to form an alliance against the BJP, back in 2023. They are unrelated to the political developments following the 2024 Lok Sabha election results. Furthermore, Nitish Kumar has declared his support for the NDA and even attended their meeting. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Amid speculation that NDA allies like JDU and TDP might switch sides to join the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu clarified that they intend to remain with the NDA. Both leaders attended the NDA meeting and provided written support for Modi. Therefore, the claims associated with the viral photos are unfounded. These images are old and unrelated to current political developments. Let’s examine the details of each photo below.
This image of Nitish Kumar with Rahul Gandhi is old. Various news reports have previously used the same image in their articles about these leaders. For instance, a reverse image search yielded articles published in October and November 2023 featuring this same photo. This indicates that the photo is not related to recent political developments.
This photo also dates back to April 2023 and is not related to current developments. A reverse image search revealed multiple reports using the same photo. According to one such article, the image was taken when Nitish Kumar met Rahul Gandhi at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi. The report indicates that these leaders met to form an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2024 elections.
This image of Akhilesh Yadav welcoming Nitish Kumar dates back to April 2023, when Nitish visited Akhilesh at his residence. A reverse image search of the viral photo led us to a tweet by Samajwadi Party official handle, that shared the same photo.
Further research revealed news reports featuring the same photo. According to these reports, Nitish Kumar visited Akhilesh to discuss the I.N.D.I.A. bloc formation. Although these images show Nitish Kumar meeting current I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders, these meetings occurred in the past and are not related to recent political developments.
To sum up, old photos of Nitish Kumar meeting with I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders are being shared as if they are recent, taken after the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
