New Delhi: Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, a war of words has unfolded between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over allegations of extravagance at the chief minister’s residence. While BJP leaders criticised former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for constructing a lavish ‘Sheesh Mahal’ for himself, the AAP hits back, accusing prime minister Narendra Modi of residing in a ‘Rajmahal’ worth Rs 2,700 crores.
In this context, an image of PM Modi seemingly wearing an expensive watch in a room showcasing wall-to-wall expensive objects has gone viral.
An X user shared the image and wrote, “This photo was secretly sent by an employee working at the PM’s residence but sends his children to the schools built by Arvind Kejriwal. He secretly clicked this picture today at 3 pm while the PM was wearing this costly watch. He revealed that in this ‘Rajmahal’, there are separate rooms dedicated to expensive luxury items such as fancy suits, shoes, glasses, pens and other indulgent items. With Rs 2,700 crores spent, what isn’t possible, brother?” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
Claim: The leaked image shows prime minister Narendra Modi wearing an expensive watch in one of the luxurious rooms at his residence.
Fact: The claim is false. The image is AI-generated.
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The ‘leaked photo from PM’s residence’ is an AI-generated image.
Upon close examination of the image, we identified a watermark for ‘Grok AI’. Grok Image Generator is a generative AI tool designed to create art and visuals from text inputs. Its official website states that it is specifically built for artistic creations.
Further scrutiny of the image revealed several inconsistencies, common among AI-generated images.
Some of the obvious discrepancies include the frame of the prime minister’s spectacles appearing incomplete and fingers showing visible distortion. Additionally, the overly glossy texture of the image and the blurred background are signs of AI-generated media.
Next, we ran the image through AI detection tools to decide its authenticity.
Hive Moderation identified the image as AI-generated with an aggregate confidence score of 98.4 per cent. Wasitai confirmed that the image, or a substantial portion of it, was created by AI. Another tool, AI Image Detector, analysed the image and determined it to be 53.26 per cent AI-generated and 45.18 per cent human-generated.
Therefore, we conclude that the viral image was fabricated using AI.
(This story was originally published by News Meter, and republished by english.varthabharti.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka launched a scathing attack on MLC Dr. Yathindra, demanding that he retract his controversial statement comparing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the late Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. Ashoka urged Yathindra to apologize to the people of Karnataka if he had even a shred of conscience and any respect for the Mysuru royal lineage.
In a strongly worded social media post on Sunday, Ashoka stated, “Comparing Siddaramaiah to Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar is nothing short of absurd. Where is Nalwadi, who was bestowed the title of ‘Rajarshi’ by Mahatma Gandhi himself, and where is Siddaramaiah, who has stooped to being a puppet in the hands of fake Gandhis for the sake of power?”
He continued his critique by contrasting the enduring legacy of Nalwadi, remembered fondly by Kannadigas for his people-centric development, with what he termed as Siddaramaiah’s failure to manage Karnataka’s economy, burdening every household with debt.
Ashoka highlighted several stark differences, while Nalwadi built Mysore University over a century ago, Siddaramaiah is shutting down nine universities due to lack of funds. Nalwadi famously sold his family’s gold to build the KRS dam, whereas Siddaramaiah is accused of grabbing 14 sites meant for the public. Nalwadi established Bhadravati Iron & Steel Plant, Sandalwood Soap Factory, and Mysore Paper Mills. In contrast, Ashoka claimed Siddaramaiah's governance drove away industries, investors, and entrepreneurs. Nalwadi pioneered reservations for the backward classes long before it became mainstream. Siddaramaiah, Ashoka alleged, is reducing social justice to a gimmick by sticking labels on doors in the name of surveys.
While acknowledging Yathindra’s emotional attachment to his father, Ashoka emphasized that comparing Siddaramaiah to a visionary like Nalwadi was “laughable, baseless, and a gross insult” to the late king.
In his concluding remarks, Ashoka slammed the government for ignoring farmers’ needs despite an early monsoon. He accused the administration of being caught up in internal power struggles and negligence, forcing farmers into despair. “This government will not be spared from the curse of the farmers,” he warned.