A photo of Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Yogi Adityanath has gone viral on social media in which he can be seen bowing in front of religious Sikh leaders in what looks like a gurudwara.
Those sharing the image claim that it also contains a framed photo of SP leader Akhilesh Yadav on the wall, insinuating that Yogi will never be able to become as popular as Akhilesh.
A social media user shared the image with a caption that reads, “Yesterday, CM Yogi went to a gurudwara and Akhileshji’s picture was already there. Yogi will never be able to reach even one per cent of Akhileshji’s popularity because he is monochrome and Akhileshji likes all colours.” (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that the claim is misleading. The image is from the UP CM’s house, where photos of all leaders have been put up on the walls.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same image was shared on the official X handle of Yogi Adityanath. The image was shared with a caption that reads, “Jo Bole So Nihal! Sat Sri Akal! Today, the sacred form of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji arrived at the government residence in Lucknow. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a source of inspiration for all of humanity.” (Translated from Hindi)
We found that other images of the event were also shared on the official X handle of UP CM. According to the occasion on the 350th martyrdom year of the martyr Sahib Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Maharaj, Yogi Adityanath welcomed and honoured Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sandesh Yatra.
Using the hint, we searched with appropriate keywords and found a news report published by Amar Ujala on July 12. According to the report, CM Yogi Adityanath welcomed the Sandesh Yatra held to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. The yatra began in Lucknow and will conclude in Delhi. On this occasion, the CM referred to the conversion-accused Changur, saying that anti-national conspiracies have been exposed and urged people to stay alert against such enemies.
The report further stated that the journey, which began in the morning from Gurdwara Naka Hindola, reached the chief minister’s residence, where CM Yogi welcomed it with a shower of flowers.
A video footage of the event was also shared on the YouTube channel of ANI. In the video, at around 1:25 seconds, we can see that photos of other UP CMs are also on the wall.
The video footage was also shared on IANS, and we can see that there are photos of all UP CMs on the wall behind.
Akhilesh Yadav served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from March 15, 2012, to March 19, 2017.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral image is being shared with a misleading claim.
