Fact Check: Does this video show former PM Morarji Desai playing Dandiya?

A video of an elderly man in a Gandhi topi (hate) playing Dandiya is being shared with the claim that the man is former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

By Naresh Kumar  Published on  11 Oct 2021 12:29 PM GMT
Fact Check: Does this video show former PM Morarji Desai playing Dandiya?

Hyderabad: A video of an elderly man in a Gandhi topi (hate) playing Dandiya is being shared with the claim that the man is former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

A Twitter user shared the video and wrote, "Morarji Desai playing Dandiya…When will Modi play Dandiya?"

We found that the video has been shared every year during Dasara.

Click here, here, here, and here to see the posts.




Click here for the archive.

Fact Check:

The claim that the man seen dancing in the video is Morarji Desai is FALSE.

We searched for the video and found a few reports proving that the person seen in the video is NOT Morarji Desai. According to a report in DeshGujarat.com, the video is from a marriage ceremony in Mumbai and the person in the video is Late Kunvarji Narshi Lodaya from Kothara, Kutch, and his brother Mulji Narshi Shah. The dance is known as 'Dhamal'.

The report also states that according to a family member "the video was in circulation among family members in WhatsApp group in an effort to replicate the dance steps". It was then forwarded by someone outside the family group and went viral.

The claim was also debunked by Boomlive and PIB in 2019 when the video was viral.

Therefore, the claim that the man seen dancing in the video is former PM Morarji Desai is FALSE.


Claim Review:Elderly person seen dancing in the video is Morarji Desai
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:Newsmeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:False
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