Lighthouse Journalism found a picture of Akhilesh Yadav being widely shared on social media platforms. Along with the picture, it was claimed that the woman seen with Akhilesh Yadav, a Member of Lok Sabha and SP leader, is YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was recently arrested for espionage.
During the investigation, we found that the picture is old and edited, the woman seen in the image is his wife, Dimple Yadav.
Claim:
X user Arun Yadav shared the viral image claiming that the woman was YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra.
Other users are also sharing the same image with similar claims.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the viral image.
We found the image being carried in several news reports, however, the image was slightly edited. Akhilesh Yadav was seen along with his wife, Dimple, in the original image.
The image was from 2017 when Akhilesh Yadav released the party manifesto.
We found images from the same event available on the stock images website, Getty Images.
The caption said: LUCKNOW, INDIA – JANUARY 22: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav with his wife and Lok Sabha MP Dimple Yadav releases a manifesto of Samajwadi Party during his press conference at party office, on January 22, 2017, in Lucknow, India. The manifesto announced the distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, the laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and improving helplines for police and women. (Photo by Dheeraj Dhawan/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
We also ran the image through the ‘Forensic’ tool available in the InVid tools. It showed heavy editing on the face of Dimple Yadav in the original image.
Conclusion: The viral image claiming to show YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra with SP leader Akhilesh Yadav is edited. The original photo is from 2017, taken during the release of the party manifesto, where Akhilesh was seen with his wife, Dimple Yadav. The circulating image is fake.
