Fact Check: Viral Photo Claiming Uddhav Thackeray Bowed To Rahul Gandhi Is Edited

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A photo of Uddhav Thackeray bowing down to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is going viral on social media.  The image is being shared with the claim that Thackeray bowed and saluted Gandhi in a recent meeting. 

Vishvas News’ investigation revealed that the claim is false and the picture has been edited and is being shared to spread propaganda. Uddhav Thackeray was bowing to the parents of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. The picture was altered by replacing Kejriwal’s parents with Rahul Gandhi.

What is going viral?

Facebook user Gangan Pratap Gupta shared the viral picture on August 15, 2024, with the caption, “Greed for power* The greed for power can make a person do anything… Uddhav Thackeray, who is 15 years older than Rahul Gandhi bowed down to him. Balasaheb Thackeray used to say, ‘I can never bow down in Delhi’s court,’ even when his right to vote was taken away. When a journalist asked if he would resolve the matter by apologising, Balasaheb  replied, * ‘Only eunuchs bow down in Congress’s Delhi Darbar.”

Investigation

To verify the authenticity of the viral picture, we conducted a reverse image search on Google and discovered the original picture in a report by Mid-Day, published on August 8, 2024. According to the report, Uddhav Thackeray had visited Delhi to meet Arvind Kejriwal’s family. During his visit, he met Arvind Kejriwal’s close alliances and family. Several pictures from this meeting were included in the report, including theoriginal image. In the original photo, Uddhav Thackeray is seen bowing and saluting Kejriwal’s parents.

Next, to verify the image of Rahul Gandhi, we conducted another reverse image search and found the original photo on the official X account of INS, published on August 7, 2024. According to the report, Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi at his residence. In the original photo, Uddhav Thackeray is seen presenting flowers to Rahul Gandhi. 

We also found a picture of this meeting on the official website of Congress.

For further clarification, we contacted Shiv Sena spokesperson Mangat Ram Munde, who confirmed that the claim is false and the photo was edited. 

Finally, we scanned the account of the user who shared the edited photo with the misleading claim. and found that the user frequently shares posts aligned with a specific ideology and identifies as a resident of Delhi.