Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with several other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members paid floral tributes to Babasaheb BR Ambedkar on his ‘death anniversary’ at the new Parliament House in New Delhi. A photo of the death anniversary showing President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla standing with folded hands next to the PM is being circulated on X platform (formerly Twitter). The purpose behind circulating this picture is to show that they were folding hands to greet the PM.
The picture was shared by Kirti Azad, the leader of the All India Trinamool Congress and a known propagator of fake news (Archived link), Activist and Congress supporter, Sandeep Singh (Archived link), Chandan (Archived link) and sports journalist Chander Shekhar Luthra (Archived link).
इस चित्र का कैप्शन क्या होना चाहिए? pic.twitter.com/x0JLCQGGFE
— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) December 7, 2023
2 शब्द : pic.twitter.com/iLzbu4AoDI
— Sandeep Singh (@ActivistSandeep) December 7, 2023
इस फोटो के लिये दो शब्द pic.twitter.com/626879NeQ9
— chandan (@chandan_stp) December 7, 2023
Words fail this headline !!!
— Chander Shekhar Luthra (@shekharluthra) December 6, 2023
@INCIndia @BJP4India @SCofInd @AamAadmiParty @AITCofficial pic.twitter.com/VqmbUGrWs0
Fact Check
In our fact check report, we examined the death anniversary video of Dr. Ambedkar on the YouTube page of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the video, we found that the reality behind the viral picture is different from what is being deliberately portrayed.
The video shows PM Modi, Draupadi Murmu, Jagdeep Dhankar, Om Birla, and many others being invited to pose before the camera at the 9:30 timeframe. After eight seconds, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the president, and the vice president fold their hands while facing the camera rather than the prime minister. The screen capture of 9 minutes and 42 seconds, in which three of them are turning to face the other way, is being erroneously shared to give the impression that they were greeting PM Modi by folding their hands.
So, to conclude, Om Birla, Jagdeep Dhankhar and Draupadi Murmu were not folding hands in front of the PM, but were folding hands towards the camera to pose for the picture.
| Claim | Lok Sabha Speaker, President, and Vice President folded hands to greet the PM |
| Claimed by | Kirti Azad, Sandeep Singh, Chandan and Chander Shekhar Luthra |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
