A photo of a group of men seated around a dining table is gathering a lot of traction on social media. In the picture, BJP Tamil Nadu general secretary Keshav Vinayak, Coimbatore BJP district president Balaji Uthamarasamy and Telangana BJP vice-president Selva Kumar are seen having a meal with some people. They seemingly have chicken on their plates and some beer bottles on the table. The picture was shared by social media influencer Kovai Harish. Before being deleted, the tweet received more than 37,000 views. (Archived link)

A Facebook user also amplified the image.

Several other Facebook users shared a screenshot of Harish’s tweet.

Fact Check

On zooming in, it can be clearly seen that the picture has been edited. The reflections of the beer bottles kept on the table do not match with the shape of the bottles. This confirms that the image has been doctored.

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We found that Telangana BJP vice-president Selva Kumar had tweeted a similar picture on February 27. However, unlike the viral picture, water bottles – not beer bottles – are kept on the table.

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The two pictures have been compared side by side here so that the reader can clearly see the difference between them. Apart from this, non-vegetarian food is also visible in the plates on the table in the viral picture. However, it is not there in the real picture.

To sum it up, a shoddily edited image was shared on social media to target Telangana BJP leaders and members. In the original picture, there are neither beer bottles on the table nor non-vegetarian food on the plates.

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About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.