Fact-Check: 2017 Clip of CM Yogi and Azam Khan at UP Assembly Viral as Recent

This visual is from inside the Uttar Pradesh assembly when Yogi Adityanath and Azam Khan met in 2017.

A video showing Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan interacting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is going viral on social media.

• Those sharing have claimed that this meeting took place right after Khan was released from prison on 23 September, after being incarcerated for almost 23 months.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false as this video is not recent.

• This video dates back to 2017 and was taken inside UP's legislative assembly.

What we found: We divided the viral video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• It led us to similar clip on Times Now's channel from 15 December 2017.

• The news channel's bulletin noted, "UP CM Yogi Adityanath & SP's Azam Khan Seen Holding Hands | Foes Turn Friends?" (sic.)

• We performed a keyword search and found multiple news reports from December 2017 that matched with the viral visual and corroborated that this meeting took place during the winter session of the UP Assembly in 2017, rather than in 2025 following Khan's release.

Azam Khan released from jail: Khan was released from Sitapur prison, where he was held in connection with multiple criminal cases, on 23 September.

• His supporters waited outside to welcome him there.

• Khan left for Rampur without speaking to the press after his release, reported The Hindu.

• On 8 October, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav met Khan at his residence in Rampur and regarded him as the 'blood' of the party, reported IANS.

Conclusion: An old video from 2017 showing CM Yogi meeting Khan has gone viral as a recent incident on social media.

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