An old image of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and union minister Smriti Irani is viral on social media with misleading claims ahead of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections being held on December 1, 2020.
BOOM found that the picture showing Owaisi and Irani together is from August of 2016 when Owaisi had met Irani during a meeting in Delhi.
Several pieces of misinformation about a "secret pact" between the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) have cropped up recently after the Bihar assembly elections. AIMIM made a dramatic entry in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region cornering seats that traditionally went to older opposition parties like Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal. The Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) emerged victorious.
Also read How A Muslim Man's Photo Was Used To Discredit The Farmers' Protest
The old picture has been revived barely hours before the GHMC polls where the fight is mainly between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The elections are being conducted by ballot papers.
The viral picture shows Owaisi and Irani in a conversation while walking through a lobby. The caption with the post reads 'What is Asaduddin Owaisi discussing with Smriti Zubin Irani? Mr. Goebbels Amit Malviya should be able to tell'.
View the post below and check its archived version here.
The picture was shared by several Twitter handles with misleading claims.
Click here for archive.
Also read I Am Right Here If They Want To See My Injuries: Lathi-Charged Farmer
Fact Check
BOOM did a Facebook search with keywords 'Owaisi Meets smriti irani' and found a similar picture shared from several profiles in August 2016. View the posts below and access their archived versions here and here.
The exact same picture had also been shared by some Facebook users in March 2017.
Also read Farmers' Protest: Old Picture Of Woman Wielding Lathi At Cops Revived
We then did a keyword search on Google with 'asaduddin owaisi meets smriti irani' setting the time period of the search to 2016 and found a tweet by Owaisi wherein he mentions the meeting with Smriti Irani.
The August 10, 2016 tweet reads 'Met Honorable Min Textiles @smritiirani gave representation reg crisis in power loom sector in Maharashtra & country'.
Also Read: 2020 Video Of UP Congress Protest Against Smriti Irani Shared As Recent
A keyword search on Twitter with relevant words led us to another tweet from August 22, 2016 showing a picture of Owaisi and Irani in the same frame. The duo can be seen wearing the same set of clothes as in the viral picture.
See the comparison of images below.
An advance search on Twitter led us to a quote-tweet by Owaisi on August 23, 2016 wherein he had replied to a Twitter user who had shared the same picture with a misinformation.
Also read No, This Is Not 'Hathras Bhabhi' At The Farmers' Protest