Jyoti Malhotra, a YouTuber from Hisar, Haryana, has been taken into custody on charges of spying for Pakistan. Investigation agencies and police teams are questioning her. Meanwhile, two photos of Jyoti with Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, are going viral on social media.
A user named Atul Kushwaha shared the photos and wrote, “Jyoti Malhotra from Haryana, caught spying for Pakistan, seen with Rahul Gandhi! What a strange coincidence that every anti-national is seen with Rahul Gandhi! Is Rahul Gandhi the mastermind behind the unrest in the country?” According to his profile on X (formerly Twitter), Atul Kushwaha is from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and is a national social media member of the BJP OBC Morcha.
These two photos were also shared by BJP leader Dr. Ajay Alok. He wrote, “How is it that every traitor or accused in anti-national activities is found in a photo with Shri @RahulGandhi? What is this relationship called? By the way, this is Madam Jyoti Malhotra — do you know who she is?”
Fact Check
The DFRAC team investigated both viral photos separately. In the first image, we found that the original photo shows Rahul Gandhi with Aditi Singh, an MLA from Rae Bareli. This photo is from the time when Aditi Singh was still with the Congress party. She later resigned and joined the BJP, and she is currently a BJP MLA from Rae Bareli.
Both BBC and The Times of India had published this image on May 7, 2018, when rumors were circulating about Aditi Singh marrying Rahul Gandhi. At that time, Aditi Singh had clarified in a post that Rahul Gandhi is like a brother to her, and the marriage rumors were completely false.
The second photo was found on Rahul Gandhi’s official Facebook page, posted on September 18, 2018. It is from the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi had shared multiple photos from the yatra with the caption: “These are not just photos; they represent emotions — of every citizen of the country — their hope, their unity, their strength, and their love.”
The graphics provided below show the edited viral photos alongside the original images.
Conclusion
DFRAC’s fact-check confirms that the viral photos showing Jyoti Malhotra with Rahul Gandhi are edited. In the original pictures, the first one features Rahul Gandhi with Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh, and the second is from the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra. Therefore, the claims made by Ajay Alok and several other users are misleading.
