Claim
A Times Now interview of Asle Toje, the deputy leader serving on the Norwegian Nobel Committee is viral with the false claim that Toje revealed how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. The caption with the post reads, "*Big breaking*.................. खुश खबरी: - ..... प्रधानमंत्री मोदी जी का नाम *नोबल पुरस्कार* के लिए प्रस्तावित हुआ। ज़रूर देखिए एवं भारत राष्ट्र के प्रधानमंत्री की शान बधाई "
Fact
BOOM found that the video was from March 2022 and the Times Now report had grossly misquoted Toje to make these false claims. Toje was invited to speak at the 'Alternative Development Model and Peace' event in Delhi on March 14 when he was interviewed. When asked by reporters if Modi was a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, he simply said, "I hope every leader in every nation is inspired to do the work that is necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." Nowhere did Toje state that Modi was being considered for the award. We also watched other interviews of Toje from that day and found that he had given no such statement. BOOM also reached out at that time to Olav Njølstad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, who confirmed that Toje had been misquoted. Njølstad also revealed that as a part of the committee, Toje was not permitted to reveal the nominees for the prize. We had also spoken to Manoj Kumar Sharma, part of the core committee that organised the event in Delhi. Sharma had refuted the viral claims and said that he was present at the event and did not to his knowledge, hear Toje make such a comment.