Fact Check: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s pic playing Ludo goes viral. But is it recent?

Several people are tweeting the old image.

The deadly coronavirus pandemic has altered the way the world functions. India too is fighting a battle against the disease with over 1,400 active cases and is under lockdown to control the spread of the virus. Amid this, social media is rife with false news and misinformation. One such false claim going viral is related to a picture of Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The image shows the minister playing a game of Ludo at his home and is being shared with a message that it is recent. This claim, however, is false and the image is a year old.

The image was actually taken back in May 2019. (Twitter)

The image has been shared by many. “#coronavirusindia #Coronafighters don’t worry our health minister playing Ludo.India will win,” says a tweet posted on March 30.

Several others have posted the same image with a similar message.

The picture, however, is not recent.

A reverse image search of the picture lead us to an article by The Tribune. The article dated May 14, 2019 is headlined: Day after polls, party leaders take a break.

The article, which shows the same picture of Dr Harsh Vardhan, claims he spent the day after polling during the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019 going through official files, meeting ministry officials and playing Ludo with his family.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls, Harsh Vardhan contested and later won the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi. The seat went to poll on May 12, Phase 6 of the mega elections.

So, the picture is not recent and was clicked nearly a year ago.