The Congress led by Hooda had moved a no-confidence motion against the Khattar government in the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ protest. On March 10, 2021, the ruling BJP-JJP alliance managed to win the trust vote in the assembly with a comfortable majority of 55 votes while the Opposition could manage only 32 votes. Though, the Congress’s bid to oust the BJP-led Haryana government through a fresh demand for no-confidence vote by the Legislature Party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is unlikely to shake Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s position. Though the agitating farmers have made it difficult for the CM even to hold public meetings, the Opposition Congress has not been able to muster adequate numbers to secure his ouster.
Amid all this chaos, a picture is going viral from November 2019 of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with former Haryana Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupendra Singh Hooda is being shared with the false claim that both were seen smiling together after the no-confidence motion was defeated in the state assembly.
In the viral photo, Khattar can be seen standing at the left, while Hooda is seen standing towards the right and shaking hands with another leader who’s standing in between both of them. The photo is being shared to imply that Hooda who is the Congress opposition leader in the state and Khattar are both hand-in-glove. The caption when translated reads, “This photo today shows who is in cohorts with whom. Politics has become full of two faced snakes”
On performing a reverse image search using Google Images, we found a PTI report carried by Deccan Herald with the viral photo on November 26, 2019, reporting that the Haryana assembly had elected Ranbir Singh Gangwa Prajapati as the deputy speaker of the assembly. The man seen standing between Khattar and shaking hands with Hooda is Prajapati who was then elected and was being greeted by both when the photo was taken.
Thus, the ongoing claim is wrong and no such event took place in the recent past.