A black and white photo is widely being shared on social media in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen standing beside former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Social media users shared the photo, which purportedly showed PM Modi, in his younger days, meeting Indira Gandhi. It is a black-and-white photo showing a group of men and women, including Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Kannada actor Rajkumar.
A social media user shared the image with a caption that read, “I have found this picture after a lot of searching. Tell me which leaders are in this picture? (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. An image of Indira Gandhi with Karnataka actor Rajkumar was edited to add the photo of PM Modi.
On a Google reverse image search, we found a similar image shared by an Instagram user on April 24, 2023.
The image was shared with a text that reads, “Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, known by his stage name Dr Rajkumar, was one of the pioneers of Kannada Cinema and will be undoubtedly remembered as not just a film-star but also as an icon for Indian Cinema.”
The post had many images of Kannada actor Rajkumar as a tribute to his contributions.
On comparing the viral image with the original, we found that an image of a younger PM Modi was edited into the group photo.
We further found that the same image was also shared by The Quint on April 24, 2019.
The image was shared with a title that reads, “Karnataka’s Reluctant Politician: The Life and Times of Annavaru.” The caption read, “Dr Rajkumar seen in the photo with former prime minister Indira Gandhi at a Sangeetha Music event. (Photo Courtesy: Sangeetha Music).”
