Fact Check: Media falsely reports Modi as the biggest contender for Noble Peace Prize

Hyderabad: On 15 March, multiple media outlets, quoting the deputy leader of the Nobel Prize committee Asle Toje, reported that he has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Toje, on 14 March, attended a roundtable discussion on “Alternative Development Model & Peace” organised by the India Centre Foundation at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi. He spoke on global peace against the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He also interacted with the media after the discussion and spoke highly of Modi. Speaking to ANI, he said Modi advising Russian President Vladimir Putin that this is not an era of war was an expression of hope.

Following this, media outlets such as Times Now, The Economics Times, Times of India, Mint, ABP News, CNBC TV18, Business Standard, WION, Dainik Jagran, OpInida and ASIANET quoted Toje and claimed that Narendra Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar and Managing Editor and Anchor of India Today, Gaurav Sawant, also tweeted the claim.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that Toje has been misquoted by media outlets.

We checked all the publications under the Times group that had reported the claim. In the video published by The Economics Times on YouTube, the Times Now reporter can be heard asking Toje, “How do you rate our leader Modi Ji in making peace all over the world?” Toje responded by saying, “I haven’t noticed peace all over the world. But I have noticed that PM Modi has intervened on a positive note in the Ukraine crisis warning Russia against using nuclear weapons and I am obviously very happy to see that. I think every country in the world should give this message and it is all the more important when it comes from a powerful country like India.”

Toje also said, “Modi has been the Prime Minister for some years now and is one of the elder statesmen in the world… and it is interesting to see that India has in record time gone from being a developing country to become one of the primary economies in the world. It is taken more seriously and when India speaks, it tends to be with a friendly voice and without threats.”

Clearly, in his interaction with Times Now, Toje did not say that Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

We also checked Toje’s interactions with The New India and ABP News. Responding to a question from reporters about whether Modi could win the Nobel Peace Prize, he said, “I hope every leader in every nation is inspired to do the work necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” In these two interactions too, we did not find Toje saying that Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The General Secretary in charge of Communications of the Congress party, Jairam Ramesh, tweeted a video of Toje and said he has categorically denied saying Modi was the strongest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the video, Toje can be heard saying, “A fake news was sent out. Let’s not discuss it or give it energy or oxygen. I categorically deny it.”

After being called out, Rahul Shivsankar put out a clarification on Twitter. “Deputy Leader of the Nobel Prize Committee Asle Toje has praised PM’s global peacemaking efforts but has made it clear that he hasn’t endorsed him as a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. The clarification comes after it was widely reported that he had done so.” he tweeted.

Can the name of the nominees for the Nobel Prize be divulged?

As per the rules mentioned on the website of the Noble Prize, the names of nominators and nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be revealed until 50 years have elapsed.

As per the 50-year secrecy rule, The Nobel Committee does not announce the names of nominees to the media or to the candidates. For the names that crop up in advance, the website says it could be either sheer guesswork or information put out by the person or persons behind the nomination. The rule mandates nomination database is not made public until after fifty years.

In a video tweeted by the official handle of the Nobel Prize in 2022, Toje explained the nomination and selection process. He said it is necessary to have a strong degree of confidence among committee members, based on being able to keep secrets. He also said that the winner of a Nobel Prize only gets to know about their victory an hour before it is publicly announced.

From these findings, we conclude that the media misquoted Asle Toje and misreported Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.