Old photo of Congress leaders Bhupinder Hooda and Kumari Selja shared as recent

What is the claim?

Multiple social media users are sharing a photo of Indian National Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, alongside Congress Member of Parliament Selja Kumari, claiming it to be recent. Users allege that the image demonstrates the two leaders' recent meeting and suggests there is no rift within the Haryana Congress.

This claim comes as Haryana prepares for the upcoming Assembly elections on October 5, 2024. Several news organizations have reported on Kumari's absence from Congress campaigning. Additionally, former Chief Minister and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP recently invited Kumari to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid reports of a growing divide between Hooda and Kumari.

One user on X shared the photo, stating, “BREAKING NEWS 🚨⚡Bhupinder Hooda met Kumari Selja and destroyed all the propaganda narrated by BJP IT Cell This duo will decimate BJP on 8th October and bundle them out 🔥We just need their joint rallies.”

Another X user wrote, “This photo has set the entire BJP on 🔥. Khattar, Modi ji, Shah ji, why are everyone worried?” This post has garnered over 120,000 views and more than 6,600 likes at the time of writing. Archived versions of similar posts can be found here, here, here, here and here.

Screenshot of other claims (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, upon investigation, we found that the viral photo is from 2019, posted by Hooda to wish Kumari on her birthday.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search of the viral photograph revealed a similar image (archived here) posted by Hooda on his official X account on September 24, 2019. The caption of the photo read: “Many congratulations and best wishes to former Union Minister, Rajya Sabha MP, and @INCHaryana Speaker sister @kumari_selja ji on the occasion of her birthday. I pray to God for your good health and long life.”

Screenshot of a similar photo posted in September 2019 (Source: @BhupinderShooda/Modified by Logically Facts)

Selja Kumari refutes rumours

Kumari has declined Khattar’s offer to join the BJP. In an exclusive interview during the 'Panchayat AajTak Haryana 2024' event organized by the India Today Group on September 23, she stated, “BJP leaders should refrain from giving me advice. Congress runs through my veins, just as my father passed away wrapped in the Tricolor. I, too, will go wrapped in that same Tricolor one day.”

Addressing rumors of internal discord within the Congress party, she dismissed any notion of dissatisfaction among party members, asserting that some internal matters are being addressed and resolved. When asked about her absence from the campaign (archived here), she indicated that she would resume campaigning for the Congress party soon.

According to a social media post (archived here) by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on September 23, 2024, Kumari will campaign in Narwana on September 26.

The verdict

The viral photo of Hooda and Kumari circulating online amid her reported absence from campaigning for the upcoming Haryana elections is misleading. Hooda initially posted the image to wish Kumari a happy birthday in 2019, and it has no connection to the ongoing campaign.