Fact Check: Was Jyoti Malhotra really with PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav? Find the facts here

PM Modi

A group photo of PM Modi with six men and a woman encircled in red has been circulating, claiming that the woman in the image is Jyoti Malhotra.

An X user shared the image with the caption, “Detective Jyoti Malhotra is an old player.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the image shows gamer Payal Dhar with PM Modi and other gamers.

A reverse image led us to the same image featured in a The Indian Express report published on April 15, 2024, titled ‘No need for regulation of gaming industry, PM Modi says in interaction with top gamers.’

According to the image’s description, it features gamers Animesh Agarwal, Mithilesh Patankar, Naman Mathur, Anshu Bisht and Payal Dhare with PM Modi.

Upon reviewing Dhare’s Instagram account, we found a post, dated April 13, 2024, featuring an image of her with prime minister Modi, both wearing the same outfits. In the caption, she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to meet the PM and mentioned discussing the future of gaming in India.

Rahul Gandhi

A collage of two images showing Rahul Gandhi with two women has been circulating online, accompanied by the claim that both images feature Jyoti Malhotra. While the first image does appear to show Malhotra, it is clearly evident that she is not present in the second image.

An X user shared the collage and wrote, “How close is Pakistan’s spy Jyoti Malhotra to Rahul Gandhi...What a strange coincidence—why does every traitor appear to be associated with him? There should be a complaint filed against Rahul Gandhi…” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the first image has been morphed by replacing the face of BJP leader Aditi Singh with Jyoti Malhotra.

Image 1: A reverse image search led us to reports published in 2018 by India Today and The Times of India. According to these reports, the image shows Aditi Singh, who was then a Congress MLA, with Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party president at the time.

Notably, Singh joined the BJP in 2021 ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Image 2: A reverse image search led us to the second image, which was posted by the official X handle of the Congress Party on September 18, 2022. The post stated that the image was from the Bharat Jodo Yatra but did not mention the woman’s name. However, her face does not resemble that of Jyoti Malhotra.

The image was taken in Alappuzha, Kerala.

Akhilesh Yadav

An image of Akhilesh Yadav flanked by a woman and a man, showing the manifesto of the Samajwadi Party, is also being circulated online. It is being claimed that the woman is Jyoti Malhotra.

An X user captioned the image, “Friends, what is this traitor Jyoti Jasoos doing with the Samajwadi Party supremo? We don’t call these SP Yadmulls for nothing.” (translated from Hindi) (Archive)

‘Yadmulls’ is a derogatory term used by political trolls to refer to people from the Yadav caste.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as this image has also been morphed by replacing Dimple Yadav’s face with Jyoti Malhotra.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found the same image featured in reports by NDTV and Business Standard published in 2017. The original image shows Akhilesh Yadav flanked by his wife, Dimple Yadav, during the unveiling of the party manifesto in 2017.

Therefore, we conclude that the claim that these images feature PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav with the arrested YouTube Jyoti Malhotra is false.