Numerous social media posts featuring a video depicting a felicitation ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surfaced on social media, claiming that Modi refused to take the idol of Lord Ganesha.
A Facebook user posted with a caption: “कल्पना कीजिए मोदी जी की जगह अगर राहुल गांधी जी ने भगवान गणेश को लेने से मना कर दिया होता तो आज सर मीडिया और भाजपाइयों का झुंड अपनी चूड़ियां तोड़ रहा होता।”. (English translation: Imagine, if Rahul Gandhi ji had refused to accept Lord Ganesha in place of Modi ji, then today sir the media and a bunch of BJP people would have been breaking their bangles.)
The above post can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be misleading.
Running the viral video keyframes through Google Reverse Image Search, the NM team identified a post by ANI news on X, dated May 3, 2023, featuring similar images as in the viral video. The post specifies that PM Modi was delivering a speech at a public gathering in Ankola, Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.
With a keyword search, we found the complete video of the said gathering on the official BJP YouTube channel. Uploaded on May 3, 2023, the video bears the title: PM Shri Narendra Modi addresses public meeting in Ankola, Karnataka | Karnataka Election | PM Modi.
Upon reviewing the entire video, we observed that the viral clip commences at the timestamp 02:05 and concludes at 02:16. Throughout the footage, individuals on the stage are seen presenting various items to PM Modi, who is adorned with a crown and shawls. Following this, the individual in the viral segment brings forth the idol of Lord Ganesha, to which PM Modi makes a remark and requests the person to step back. Subsequently, PM Modi is garlanded, and thereafter, the same individual presents the idol of Lord Ganesha to him. PM Modi not only accepts the idol but also holds it and poses for a photograph. This indicates that PM Modi did not decline to accept the idol of Lord Ganesha.
Thus, we can conclusively say that the viral clip, alleging that PM Narendra Modi declined to accept the idol of Lord Ganesha, is fake.
