Following the recently concluded Bihar Assembly elections, folk singer Maithili Thakur made headlines after winning the Alinagar seat as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.
Soon after the results, a picture surfaced online claiming to show Thakur sitting inside an MLA’s office, suggesting it was taken after her electoral victory.
The above post can be seen here (archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the picture in question and found it to be AI-generated.
A Reverse Image Search of the picture did not yield results from any credible news outlets or official BJP platforms. Moreover, neither Maithili Thakur’s verified social media accounts nor those of the BJP have shared any such image.
Importantly, Thakur has not yet taken the oath as an MLA, which makes the claim of her sitting in an MLA office factually incorrect.
On closer inspection, the viral photo shows several signs of AI manipulation — including overly smooth facial textures, distorted fingers and outlines, uneven lighting, and inconsistent shadows around the hair and background.
To further verify, NewsMobile analysed the image using Hive Moderation and Sightengine, both of which confirmed that the photo was AI-generated.
In conclusion, the viral picture claiming to show Maithili Thakur sitting in her MLA office is fake. Thakur is MLA-elect and has not yet taken oath. The image has been digitally created using AI tools and is being falsely shared online.
