A cropped video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being shared with a misleading claim that it shows him disrespecting polymath Rabindranath Tagore by accepting an upside down sketch of him from a Bharatiya Janata Party member in Barrackpore, West Bengal.
BOOM found that the video has been edited to remove the part where Tagore's sketch was straightened, and PM Modi was seen holding the picture upright while posing for photographs.
The 17-second video shows Pawan Singh, BJP MLA from Bhatpara, presenting the sketch of Rabindranath Tagore to the prime minister in the presence of Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and former Trinamool Congress defector Arjun Singh. Pawan Singh hands over the sketch to Modi without noticing that it is upside down. The two interact before Majumdar signals Singh to straighten it.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his comments on Sandeshkhali and reposted the video from AITMC's official X handle with the caption, "During his visit to Bengal day before someone said: “Will be straightened by hanging upside down.”
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A screengrab from the video was shared by TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose with a caption targeting Modi.
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Fact Check
BOOM found that the viral video is clipped and in the longer version of the video where Modi was addressing a public meeting in Barrackpore, West Bengal on May 12, he holds the upright sketch of Tagore and poses for photographs.
The video was streamed live from Narendra Modi's official YouTube channel on May 12, 2024.
The viral segment of the video where Bhatpara MLA Pawan Singh gifts the Tagore sketch to PM Modi can be watched from 2:39 minutes mark.
Starting from 2:45 minute mark, Modi and Majumdar can be seen standing to greet Pawan Singh, who walks on the stage with a sketch of Tagore, without noticing that it is upside down. As Singh hands over the sketch to Modi, both can be seen interacting with each other. Moments later, Majumdar notices that the sketch is upside down and signals Pawan Singh to straighten it. The two then pose for photographs with Tagore's sketch.