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A video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman traveling by Delhi Metro is going viral to claim that the minister uses metro to reach her office every day.
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An archive can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)
But is this true?: Not really. The video shows Sitharaman traveling on Delhi metro on 17 May, just before the Lok Sabha elections took place.
This was covered by several media outlets at the time as this was unusual, however, there is no proof of her using the metro everyday.
Sitharaman's office shared visuals from her trip to the metro on the same day and stated that her purpose was to interact with the commuters.
How did we find out the truth?: We conducted a relevant keyword search on Google using 'Nirmala Sitharaman travels in Delhi metro' and this resulted in several reports from 17 May.
Media outlets, namely Hindustan Times, News 24, Business Today, ABP Live, The Indian Express and The Economic Times, all shared visuals of Sitharaman in the metro.
The reports stated that the minister travelled using public transport and interacted with the commuters, who were shocked to see her there right before the elections commenced on 25 May.
We also found a post on Sitharaman's official Instagram account from 17 May, where she shared pictures from the metro and wrote, "Took a ride in Delhi #Metro from Mandi House to Laxmi Nagar and interacted with fellow commuters."
We also found a post about Sitharaman's unique travel experience on her office's official X (formerly Twitter) account.
Conclusion: An old video showing Nirmala Sitharaman traveling through the Delhi metro right before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 is going viral with misleading claims.
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