Edited Image Shared to Claim MP Sanjay Raut ‘Made Tea For PM Modi’

The image has been edited to add Sanjay Raut’s image from March 2020 where he could be seen playing a harmonium.

An altered photo which apparently shows Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut making tea, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is conversing with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and cabinet minister Ashok Chavan, is being shared online.

This comes in the backdrop of Thackeray’s meeting with Modi, which set off political speculations in the state.

CLAIM

The claim shared along with the photo in Hindi reads, “जो आदमी 24 घण्टे चाय वाले पर भोंकता रहता था..... आज उसी चायवाले के लिए चाय बनानी पड़ रही है !!”

(Translation: The man who used to keep targeting the tea seller 24 hours... Today, he is making tea for the same tea seller.)

The post has been shared on Facebook and Twitter and the archived links can be found here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

On conducting a reverse image search, we found that the image was used in an article in The Telegraph on 8 June.

Thackeray had met Modi along with Ajit Pawar and Ashok Chavan on 8 June and discussed issues related to the Maratha reservation, GST compensation and Metro car shed. The image used in the article was attributed to Maharashtra CMO's official Twitter handle.

We looked for the photograph there and found the image that has been used in the viral photo.

We also tried to locate the origin of Raut’s image and we were able to find the same image used in an article by News18 Lokmat on 24 March 2020.

The article mentioned that the image was uploaded by Raut’s daughter Purvashi Raut, who had shared it on Facebook. However, the post has been deleted from her Facebook page. We also found the video that was posted by news portal NEWJ Marathi.

Clearly, a morphed image of the Rajya Sabha MP made its way to the internet with the false claim.

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