Fact Check: Did Nitish Kumar meet INDIA bloc leaders in Delhi?

Hyderabad: Amid the release of the 2024 Lok Sabha election results and as the nation eagerly anticipates the formation of the new government, numerous reports of alliance negotiations have surfaced.

The NDA can form the government only if its alliance partners like the JDU and TDP remain supportive. Meanwhile, leaders of these parties, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, face pressure as their decision to join the INDIA alliance or stay with the NDA is crucial.

Against this backdrop, photos have been shared on social media showing Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

A Facebook user is found sharing the photos with the caption “Nitish Kumar Babu reached Delhi and met the honourable high profile leaders of India Alliance. Chandra Babu Naidu is also talking to the top leadership of INDIA coalition. People’s leader Rahul Gandhi has said Modi will not become Prime Minister in 2024. (translated from Hindi)” The post claims that Nitish Kumar has travelled to Delhi to meet with the INDIA alliance leaders.

The post contains three photos: two from the same meeting showing Nitish Kumar with INDIA alliance leaders, and another featuring the cover title of the NDTC news portal with photos of Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. The caption reads, “Kingmaker: NDA or INDIA alliance, whom shall be chosen?”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the photos are not recent but from 2023.

A reverse image search of the first photo directed us to a New Indian Express article titled ‘Road to 2024: Amid UPA convenor buzz, Nitish meets Congress brass, AAP,” published on April 13, 2023.

The report claims that the meeting was to discuss a strategy for creating an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It quotes both Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, who described the meeting as historic since it set the ball rolling for forging Opposition unity.

A deeper inspection of the second photo led us to a post by Rahul Gandhi on X, dating back to April 2023. The photo is from the same event mentioned above, aimed at discussing a strategy for creating an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The post reads “In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards unity of the opposition. We stand together, we will fight together – for India!”

Hence, the claim is false as the photos are nearly a year old and is not related to the recent election results.