Fact Check: Modi destroyed all evidence of our wedding, says Jashodaben? No, viral newspaper clipping is edited
A newspaper clipping resembling an Indian Express page claiming that Jashodaben said Narendra Modi destroyed evidence of their wedding is viral on social media.
By - M Ramesh Naik
Claim:The newspaper clipping has a report on Jashodaben claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi destroyed all evidence of their wedding.
Fact:The claim is false. The Indian Express archive for November 30, 2015, contains no such headline or report. The newspaper clipping is edited and the report is fabricated.
Hyderabad: A purported newspaper clipping similar to a page from The Indian Express is circulating widely on social media. The clipping carries a bold headline claiming that Jashodaben, Narendra Modi’s wife from an arranged childhood marriage, alleged that the Prime Minister destroyed all evidence of their wedding. The image also includes a photograph of Jashodaben and a lengthy article describing the alleged circumstances.
An X user shared the clipping with the caption, “Right time to remind this.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The viral newspaper clipping is fabricated and does not correspond to any authentic report published by The Indian Express or any other newspaper.
Keyword searches on The Indian Express website archives and broader web searches for phrases such as ‘destroyed all evidence of our wedding’ along with ‘Jashodaben’ and the 2015 timeframe yielded no matching article from the publication or any credible media outlet.
A direct review of the Indian Express archive dated November 30, 2015, shows no such headline or report. The actual page carries unrelated national and international news items, including pieces on debates, commentary around the Intolerance debate, Assam political developments and cricket coverage. No mention of Narendra Modi, Jashodaben, marriage-related claims or destruction of evidence.
Interestingly, other headlines visible in the viral clipping — such as ‘What CBI asked Peter in Lie Test,’ ‘The Paris template,’ ‘In 9 Years, Rs 3 crore spent on Foundation Ceremonies,’ and ‘Right place, wrong t-shirt By Ashutosh Vandana’ match genuine reports published by The Indian Express on the same date.
This suggests the viral image was created by editing an actual newspaper page and inserting fabricated content.
Further inconsistencies are visible in the clipping itself. The website address printed on it reads ‘WWW.INDIANEXPRES.COM,’ which contains a spelling error and does not correspond to the newspaper’s official domain.
Where is Jashodaben’s image from?
A reverse image search of the photograph of Jashodaben used in the clipping traced it to a Times of India report dated November 25, 2014. That report stated that Jashodaben had filed an RTI application with Mehsana police seeking clarity on her security cover. The photo was credited to AFP and has no connection to the viral claim.
No credible media organisation or verifiable source has reported that Jashodaben made any statement alleging Narendra Modi destroyed evidence of their wedding.
