A photograph of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar alongside Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been widely shared on social media, claiming that he was present with the BJP government during the Union Budget 2025-26 presentation.
The image is shared on Facebook with a caption: ये Election Commission of India (राजीव कुमार ECI चीफ़) वित्त मंत्रालय में कौन सा काम संभालते हैं?? पीएम जितनी पॉवर रखने वाले को कोई नई पद की सिफारिश हुई है… देखते हैं.. कुछ नहीं की बात है, सब सामने आ जाएगा। (English version: What work does this Election Commission of India (Rajeev Kumar, ECI Chief) handle in the Finance Ministry?? Any new post recommended to anyone who has power as the PM… Let’s see.. Nothing is the matter, everything will come out.)
Here’s the link to the above post. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
A Google Lens search of the viral image led NewsMobile to multiple media reports, dated February 1, 2020, featuring the same photograph. These reports confirm that the image was taken during the Union Budget 2020-21 presentation, not Budget 2025-26.
The official Press Information Bureau (PIB) website also contains the same photo in its archives with a caption stating that the image was captured when Sitharaman, along with Anurag Singh Thakur and senior officials, was en route to present the 2020-21 Budget.
Furthermore, records from the Election Commission of India indicate that Rajiv Kumar was serving as India’s Finance Secretary from July 2019 to February 2020. He later held the position of Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) before appointed as Election Commissioner in September 2020. He served as Chief Election Commissioner since May 2022.
Thus, we can conclusively say that the viral claim suggesting CEC Rajiv Kumar was present with the BJP government during the 2025-26 Budget presentation is false.
