Fact-Check: Old Photo of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Shared With Misleading Claim

It was taken in August when BJP leaders in Rajasthan gathered for a protest against former CM Ashok Gehlot.

The photo shows Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma surrendering during a protest organised by the BJP in Rajasthan.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma standing at the doorway of a crowded bus has gone viral on social media.

What are users claiming?: The photo is being shared to claim that it shows Sharma travelling in a state transport bus just months before becoming the chief minister of Rajasthan, in admiration of his 'humble background.'

• The claim was also shared by a X (formerly Twitter) Premium subscriber and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Dinesh Desai.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here, here, and here.)

Is it true?: The claim is misleading.

• The photo was taken in August this year, when BJP leaders and workers in Rajasthan – including Sharma – had travelled to Jaipur for a protest against former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot's Congress-led government's governance.

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo, which led us to a Facebook post shared by a BJP worker from Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

• This post, which was shared on 1 August, mentioned a protest against the former Congress-led government in the state, called 'Nahi Sahega Rajasthan' and carried the same photo as the one in the viral claim.

This user shared Sharma's photo in a post about a protest.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

Taking a cue from this, we looked for mentions of this protest on CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's verified Facebook page.

• Here, we came across more visuals of the protest, which included a similar photo of Sharma's.

One can see the similarities between the photo in Sharma's post and the image in the viral claim.

Both photos show the same man near Sharma and similar lettering patterns on the bus.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

We also came across a broadcast of the protest on BJP Rajasthan's X profile, where Sharma can be seen speaking around the 11:52 mark.

Sharma spoke at the dias during the protest against Rajasthan's previous Congress-led goverment.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

Several BJP leaders from Rajasthan shared visuals of the demonstration against the government on their accounts, including former MLA Rajendra Rathore and BJP MP from Bharatpur Ranjeeta Koli.

Several BJP leaders shared visuals of the protest.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

News reports: According to a video report by First India News, the protest took place at Statue Circle in Jaipur, where police personnel used water cannons to disperse the BJP protesters.

• Amid the action, some BJP workers gathered in a bus, surrendering themselves to the police after a few protesters were injured.

Conclusion: A photo showing Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma in a bus during a protest is being shared with a misleading claim that it shows Sharma travelling in a state transport bus.

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