Several posts (here, here, & here) accompanying a video showing a felicitation ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that the video shows him refusing to accept the idol of Lord Ganesha. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi refusing to accept the idol of Lord Ganesha.
Fact: This video is from a public meeting held in Ankola, in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, during PM Modi’s campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections on 03 May 2023. The original video of this meeting has been edited between timestamps 02:05 and 02:16 and shared with a false narrative. In the longer version of the video, we can clearly see PM Modi accepting the idol of Lord Ganesha presented to him and also posing with it for a photograph on stage. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search using keyframes from the video. This search led us to a post by ‘ANI’ news on X (Twitter) on 03 May 2023, which contains similar pictures like in the viral video. This post mentions that PM Modi was addressing a public meeting in Ankola, in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, on 03 May 2023.
Taking a cue from this, we conducted a relevant keyword search and found the full video of this meeting on the official YouTube channel of BJP. It was uploaded on 03 May 2023, with the title: “PM Shri Narendra Modi addresses public meeting in Ankola, Karnataka | Karnataka Election | PM Modi”.
Upon reviewing the entire video, we discovered that the viral clip begins at the timestamp 02:05 and concludes at 02:16. In the footage, people standing on the stage are seen presenting different items to PM Modi. He is adorned with a crown and shawls. After this, the person in the viral video brings the idol of Lord Ganesha to which PM Modi says something and asks him to step back. Then PM Modi is garlanded, and afterwards, the same person presents the idol of Lord Ganesha to PM Modi. PM Modi holds the idol of Ganesha and also gets a photograph clicked. This makes it evident that PM Modi did not refuse to accept the idol God Ganesha.
Recently, a video clip with a similar claim stating that Rahul Gandhi refused to accept the idol of Lord Vitthal went viral. Factly wrote a fact-check article debunking the viral video, which can be seen here.
To sum up, a clipped video is being falsely shared as PM Narendra Modi refusing to accept Lord Ganesha’s Idol.
