Fact-Check: PM Modi did not insult former President Ram Nath Kovind - Alt News
Abhishek Kumar
26th July 2022 / 5:21 pm
On July 23, a farewell ceremony for President Ram Nath Kovind was held at Parliament’s Central Hall, a day before the last day of his tenure. Members of both the houses of the Parliament, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony.
Against the backdrop of this event, a video of PM Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind is circulating widely on social media. It has been claimed that as President Ram Nath Kovind was greeting the Prime Minister, the latter looked at the camera instead of acknowledging him. Various users claimed that the PM had insulted the President by ignoring him.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and MP Sanjay Singh tweeted the video, calling it an insult to the President. Addressing Ram Nath Kovind, he wrote “This is how these people are, now that your tenure is over, they will not even look at you.” (Archived link)
ऐसा अपमान Very Sorry Sir
ये लोग ऐसे ही हैं, आपका कार्यकाल ख़त्म अब आपकी तरफ़ देखेंगे भी नही। pic.twitter.com/xaGIOkuyDM
— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) July 24, 2022
National Forum, an organisation led by Yashwant Sinha also amplified the video on Twitter, writing, “How can you insult the President like this? It’s not good to be so arrogant, Mr Prime Minister. Today, you’re in power, and tomorrow it will be someone else.” (Archived link)
ऐसा अपमान राष्ट्रपति का ?? इतना घमंड प्रधानमंत्री जी ठीक नहीं हैं, ये सत्ता आते जाते रहती हैं आज आपके पास है कल किसी और के पास होगी। pic.twitter.com/tUPGOvy1FV
— NationalForum (@RashtraManch) July 24, 2022
RJD leader Rishi Kumar tweeted the clip, adding, “Is this not an insult to a Dalit President?” (Archived link)
सामने कोई भी हो , सम्मान कैमरे को ही मिलेगा । क्या ये दलित राष्ट्रपति का अपमान नही है ? 🤔@RJDforIndia @yadavtejashwi @laluprasadrjd pic.twitter.com/FHCSQ5790V
— Rishi Kumar (@rishi_mail) July 24, 2022
This video has been shared by several social media users. However, it is worth noting that while some users have pointed out Prime Minister Modi’s love for the camera, others have termed it an insult to the President.
Alt News noticed that the ‘Sansad TV’ logo is visible in the viral visuals. Using this as a clue, we examined the timeline of the Sansad TV channel on YouTube and found the full video from which the viral clip was taken.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_gFzcRX7I]
This can be seen clearly in the screengrab added below.
To sum it up, a video clip of former President Ram Nath Kovind’s farewell ceremony was shared with a misleading claim. PM Narendra Modi did not insult the former President. In fact, he acknowledged and returned the greeting with folded hands. In the clip being circulated as the PM ignoring the former President, the latter is actually greeting Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) MP Geeta Vishwanath Vanga, who was standing behind PM Modi.
Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
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