Manoj Tiwari, a Lok Sabha MP and chief of Bhartiya Janta Party’s Delhi wing has become a point of discussion on social media. A picture of Manoj Tiwari is doing rounds on social media in which he can be seen burning crackers.

People are claiming that Manoj Tiwari, who has recently spoken much about Delhi’s poor air quality and posted pictures in a mask, is himself burning crackers on Diwali while ignoring the severe environmental condition.

A Facebook page named ‘I.T & Social Media Cell Congress’ shared the viral picture with a caption that can be roughly translated to, “This is Manoj Tiwari – Member of Parliament – North East Delhi. Busy in bursting crackers, he has no shame for the current situation in Delhi. It is shameful that the people of Delhi have chosen such a person as an MP.”

A Twitter user named Harleen Kaur also shared this picture along with a recent picture of Manoj Tiwari in a mask. She also made a similar claim.

Many unverified claims have become viral on social media in the wake of the environmental crisis that North India is going through. A public health emergency was also declared in the Delhi NCR region.

Truth Behind this Picture

While investigating the reality of this picture and claims made with it, we found out that is an old picture and is being used to mislead people. A simple google reverse images took us to a story published by The Outlook on 28 October 2014 with a title “BJP MP Manoj Tiwari burns crackers as he celebrates with Purvanchalis after the declaration of Chhath puja as a public holiday in Delhi.”

The same viral picture was also published in The Pioneer on October 29, 2014, titled, “Chhath Puja now a public holiday!”

Manoj Tiwari on his Twitter account posted a video of him lighting 200 earthen lamps on the occasion of Diwali, in Delhi’s unauthorized colonies that are set to get legal status.

Therefore, we can conclude the viral picture of Manoj Tiwari bursting crackers is an old one and is being used to mislead people.