No, this video does not show Rishi Sunank's housewarming at 10 Downing Street
Social media users are sharing a video and picture of Rishi Sunak, and his wife, Akshata Murthy, meeting a saffron-clad priest with the claim that it shows the Griha-Pravesh (Housewarming Ceremony) of the newly elected PM at 10 Downing Street.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 26 Oct 2022 1:47 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Rishi Sunak, 42, becomes the first Hindu and Asian origin Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) after being invited by King Charles III on 25 October to form a government. Sunak won the Conservative Party leadership race with the withdrawal of his competitors — former prime minister Boris Johnson and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.
Against this backdrop, social media users are sharing a video and picture of Rishi Sunak, and his wife, Akshata Murthy, meeting a saffron-clad priest with the claim that it shows the Griha-Pravesh (Housewarming Ceremony) of the newly elected PM at 10 Downing Street.
10 Downing Street, also known as Number 10, is the official residence of the UK's Prime Minister.
A user shared the video and wrote, "Gruha-Pravesh_ of Rishi Sunak at 10, Downing Street, as Prime minister of Britain !! With complete Sanatan Hindu-Rituals !!"
Click here to see the post.
Several other Facebook users shared the video claiming the same. (Click here, here, here and here to see the posts.)
Fact Check
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search of the video's keyframe and came across an 18 August tweet from Rishi Sunak carrying the same picture with his wife in which they can be seen praying. The tweet stated that Sunak and Akshata had visited Bhaktivedanta Manor (a Vaishnava temple run by the ISKCON in the UK) ahead of the popular Hindu festival, which celebrates the birthday of Lord Krishna.
Further, we found several pictures of Mr. Sunak's visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor temple in an article published on 20 October on the website of Bhaktivedanta Manor. We could also identify the same priest clad in the saffron cloth in one of the pictures. The article mentions that "New British Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak and his wife celebrated the festival of Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor this year. Mr. Sunak has visited the temple with this family many times before."
The Instagram page of Bhaktivedanta Manor temple also posted the viral picture of Mr. Sunak and his wife on 18 August.
It is evident that the picture and video being shared of Mr. Sunak are old and from his visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor temple. Hence the claim is false.
