Recently, social media users have been circulating a black and white photo and claiming that it shows former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
A rare photo of Jayalalita and our present Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Posted by Seetha Lakhshmi on Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Many users shared this claim on Facebook.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a reverse image search of this photo and found fact-check reports from a number of different media outlets. This claim has gone viral in the past. Several other fact-checking platforms, including Boomive and The Logical Indian have debunked the claim.
The text “kliked by stills ravi” appears on the bottom of the photo.
Photographer Ravi Varma shot this image. He clarified this in a May 29, 2020, Facebook post when the image went viral earlier. Varma also confirmed this to Boomlive. He replied to a comment on an image in the photoset that the woman seen with Jayalalithaa (left) is not Sitharaman, but author Sivasankari.
Now this picture taken by me viral all over Karnataka&andhra-stillsravi
Posted by Ravi Varma V on Friday, May 29, 2020
Sivasankari is a Tamil writer and activist. She has penned more than two dozen novels and is known for writing on social issues.
Jayalalithaa and Shivshankari were good friends. The two can be seen together in these photographs on the DT Next website.
The difference between the facial features of a young Nirmala Sitharaman (left) and Sivasankari (right) can be seen clearly below.
A photo of Jayalalithaa with friend and author Sivasankari has been falsely shared as an old picture featuring her and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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