Fact Check: Old images of Manmohan Singh go viral with misleading claims

A set of images of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is viral on social media.

By Tejal Sinha  Published on  28 Sept 2021 4:19 PM IST
Fact Check: Old images of Manmohan Singh go viral with misleading claims

Hyderabad: A set of images of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is viral on social media.

Users claim that the former Prime Minister was sidelined by the Indian National Congress during his tenure and was publicly disrespected by the Gandhi family.


"The Man in a Blue turban was the Indian Prime Minister for 10 years," reads the caption.



(Click here to view more such posts on Twitter)

A user had also shared a collage of two videos with a caption, "When Manmohan Singh was India's Prime Minister, watch how Sonia Gandhi insulted him! When Manmohan Singh isn't in power, watch how India's powerful man MODI respected him! That's what Bharatiya Sanskaar teaches you (sic)"

Fact Check

The claim is Misleading.

Image 1: Sonia Gandhi along with Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi at a meet with Sri Lankan PM


This image is of November 23, 2017, when Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, and other Congress leaders met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

NewsMeter fact check team had earlier debunked a similar fact check where a video was widely being shared on social media, where users had claimed that 'Sonia Gandhi had sidelined Dr. Manmohan Singh during a meeting with Sri Lankan PM'

During the investigation, the team had found that "on his four-day visit to India, former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh."

After the investigation, we found that both Sonia Gandhi and Ranil Wickremesinghe had offered a seat to Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Image 2: Image of Sonia Gandhi along with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi.


The image dates back to 2019 when Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh had met Sheikh Hasina.

NewsMeter fact check team had earlier debunked a claim that Sonia Gandhi once took Dr. Manmohan Singh on a tour to Bangladesh.

After the investigation, the team had found that Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh had met Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's liberation.

The team also performed a keyword search, which led us to a report by Hindustan Times published on October 27, 2019. According to the report, the Congress leader had accepted Hasina's invitation to visit her country.

Image 3: Image of 2012 during the presidential elections


On performing a Google Reverse Image Search, the team found a video uploaded on the website of NDTV on July 19, 2012. At 01:00 minutes of the video, we could see similar visuals.

Image 4: Image of flag hoisting ceremony during the AICC session in New Delhi


NewsMeter fact-checking team performed a Google Reverse Image Search which led us to a report by Outlook that published a similar picture. "Facing accusations of policy paralysis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today admitted that growth rate had slowed down because clearances were not granted to infrastructure projects for the fear of CAG and CVC. He asked the people to judge the record of his government while closely scrutinizing that of opposition governments," reads the report.

The team also found a video uploaded on the YouTube channel of Zee News on January 17, 2014. "A crucial meet of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) began in New Delhi on Friday to finalize party's strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," reads the thumbnail of the video.

At around the 3:38 mark, we can see similar visuals.

It is therefore evident that the viral claim is Misleading. None of the images anywhere prove Dr. Manmohan Singh was disrespected by the Gandhis.

Claim Review:Dr. Manmohan was disrespected during his tenure
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:Newsmeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:Misleading
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