Fact Check: Viral photo of Modi does not feature conman Kiran Patel

Social media users are sharing an old group photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that the extreme left corner features conman Kiran Patel. Patel was arrested on March 3 by the Jammu and Kashmir police for posing as an Additional Director, Strategy and Campaigns of the PMO. He has been arrested on charges of cheating, forgery and impersonation.

A Twitter user shared the photo and wrote, “The so-called con man Kiran Patel is an RSS/BJP man and Modi’s hard-core supporter. In this photo taken during Modi’s visit (when he was nobody and a lower-level RSS cadre) to America, this Kiran Patel is standing very close to Modi. Hence Media will not investigate & debate. (sic)”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the image was taken during Modi’s visit in 1994 to the US and does not include conman Kiran Patel at the extreme left corner. On performing a reverse image search of the viral photo, we found it was carried by several news articles. According to Indian Express, the photo was taken outside the White House in Washington. It features Narendra Modi second from the left and G Kishan Reddy on the extreme left.

Reddy is a member of the BP and currently serving as Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of the North Eastern Region of India.

We also found articles from the Mint, Deccan Chronicle and Firstpost in 2014 mentioning that G Kishan Reddy is standing at the extreme left corner in the photo.

We also found several photos, including the viral one posted by Reddy on Facebook on September 25, 2014. In the caption, he mentioned that he was part of the team when Modi visited the USA in 1994 at the invitation of ACYPL (American Council of Young Political Leaders).

Hence, we conclude that the viral photo does not show conman Kiran Patel at the extreme left, and the claim is false.