A photo purporting to show Mallikarjun Kharge not clapping while PV Narasimha Rao was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna is circulating online.
BOOM found that the claims are false, a video of the ceremony shows Kharge clapping.
Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna on March 30, 2024. His son, Prabhakar Rao, received the award on his behalf from President Draupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were among the people present at the ceremony.
A photo of Prabhakar Rao receiving the award and posing with the president while Modi, Amit Shah are seen clapping from the audience is viral online. The photo also shows Kharge in the front row, not clapping. A caption on X reads, "Only person in first row not clapping on award is Mallikarjun Kharge. This is what called loyalty to family."
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Another user on Facebook wrote, "That, Kharge from Congress, is not clapping. This shows the mentality of Congress leaders about PV."
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the image has been taken from a specific part of the ceremony when Kharge was not clapping; a full video of the award being given to Prabhakar Rao shows that Kharge did clap when former Congress leader PV Narasimha Rao's name was announced.
We ran a keyword search on YouTube for a full video of the Bharat Ratna awards and found a livestream shared by the verified handle of the President of India on March 30, 2024.
At the 1:58 mark, PV Narasimha Rao's name is announced as the first recipient of the award. After this, at the 2:07 mark, Mallikarjun Kharge is seen clapping with other members of the audience. At 2:13, Prabhakar Rao and Kharge are seen in the same frame while the latter is still clapping for PV Narasimha Rao. They are also seen shaking hands at 2:52.
Narasimha Rao received the Bharat Ratna alongside four other recipients-- former BJP leader LK Advani, former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, agronomist Dr Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur.