In May 2026, the CBI arrested Shivraj Motegaonkar, owner of Renuka Chemistry Classes in Latur, Maharashtra, in connection with the NEET question paper leak case. Following this, a photo is being shared on social media (here, here, here) with the claim that “the person standing to the right of Rahul Gandhi is Shivraj Motegaonkar, the main accused in the NEET paper leak case.” Let’s verify the truth behind this claim.

The Archived post can be seen here.

Claim: The person standing to the right of Rahul Gandhi in this photo is Shivraj Motegaonkar, owner of RCC Coaching Centre and an accused in the NEET paper leak case.

Fact: This photo was taken on 8 October 2014, during an election rally in Latur, and the person seen with Rahul Gandhi is Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, the MLA from Latur City, not RCC Coaching Centre owner Shivraj Motegaonkar. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.

A reverse image search of the viral photo led us to the same image published on the Getty Images website. According to the photo description, it shows Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Congress candidate from the Latur Assembly constituency, Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, greeting supporters during an election rally held in Latur on 8 October 2014. This confirms that the person seen with Rahul Gandhi in the photo is Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, the MLA from Latur City, and not Shivraj Motegaonkar. 

A comparison of the photographs of Shivraj Motegaonkar and Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh clearly shows that they are two different individuals.

To sum up, the person seen with Rahul Gandhi in this photograph is Congress leader Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, not Shivraj Motegaonkar.