Did Nitish Kumar Truly Meet INDIA Bloc Leaders in Delhi? Let’s Fact Check

Some people on the internet are spreading fake pictures of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders. Kumar is a member of the BJP-led INDIA bloc, but he did not meet them.

Many reports of alliance talks have come out since the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were announced. The country is now excitedly waiting for the new government to be formed.

The NDA can only form the government if the JDU and TDP, which are in an agreement with it, continue to back it. The heads of these parties, Nitish Kumar (JD(U)) and Chandrababu Naidu (TDP)), are also under a lot of pressure because they need to decide quickly whether to join the INDIA alliance or stay with the NDA.

विचारधारा की इस लड़ाई में, विपक्ष की एकता की ओर आज एक ऐतिहासिक कदम लिया गया है।

साथ खड़े हैं, साथ लड़ेंगे – भारत के लिए! pic.twitter.com/xoStUuiqyL

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 12, 2023

In this situation, pictures on social media have been shared of Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav with Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party, and Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of the party.

The pictures were posted on Facebook by someone who wrote, “Nitish Kumar babu reached Delhi and met the honorable high profile leaders of India Alliance.” On top of that, Chandrababu Naidu is talking to the leaders of the INDIA alliance. Rahul Gandhi, the head of the people, said that Modi will not become Prime Minister in 2024.

The post says Nitish Kumar went to Delhi to meet with the leaders of the INDIA alliance.

The post has three pictures: two are from the same meeting and show Nitish Kumar with leaders of the INDIA alliance; the third picture is the top of a news website and has pictures of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. “Kingmaker: NDA or INDIA alliance, whom shall be chosen?” is what it says.

Fact Check

It was found by NewsMeter that the claim is fake because the pictures are from 2023, not 2018.

A reverse image search of the first picture led us to an April 13, 2023, New Indian Express story called “Road to 2024: Amid UPA convenor buzz, Nitish meets Congress brass, AAP.”

The meeting, according to the story, was to talk about how to build a front against the BJP before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It talks about Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, who both said that the meeting was important because it started the process of getting the Opposition to work together.

We found a post by Rahul Gandhi on X from April 2023 when we looked more closely at the second picture. The picture is from the same event that was talked about above. It was meant to talk about how to build a front against the BJP before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “In this battle of ideas, an important step toward opposition unity was taken today,” the post says. We will stand together and fight for India!”

So, the claim is not true because the pictures are almost a year old and have nothing to do with the most recent election results.

Review of Claim: Pictures show Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu meeting important leaders of the India alliance in Delhi after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.