Did Sonia, Rahul Gandhi ‘disrespect’ ex-PM Manmohan Singh in meetings with foreign leaders?

Old pictures showing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi meeting heads of other countries have resurfaced on social media with captions suggesting that the Gandhi family disrespected the former Indian PM for 10 years. The photos show Sonia and Rahul Gandhi seated next to foreign leaders while ex-PM Manmohan Singh sits on the side. Some social media users called it a “mockery of Indian democracy”.

X user ‘Squint Neon’ (@TheSquind) made similar claims while sharing these images, calling it an insult to then-PM Manmohan Singh. (Archived link)

Another X user, Lolflix (@Lolflix), also shared the pictures with the caption, “Guess who was India’s Prime Minister?” (Archived link)

X user Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree), who often shares posts promoting the BJP, also shared the pictures. “The man in the blue turban was India’s Prime Minister for 10 years,” this person wrote in the caption. (Archived link)

Fact Check

There were a total of four images in the posts by social media users. We looked at each separately.

Image 1: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi

A reverse image search of this picture led us to a post by news agency ANI from April 26, 2017. The accompanying caption said that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met former PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in Delhi pic.twitter.com/N5x7OzEeku

— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2017

Note that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was elected to power for a five-year term in 2004 and then again in 2009. So, Manmohan Singh served two terms as Prime Minister—between 2004 and 2014. In other words, this picture is from after Manmohan Singh’s term as PM. At the time, Sonia Gandhi was the Congress president.

Image 2: Sri Lankan PM Wickremesinghe with Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi

A reverse search of this image led us to an article on The New Indian Express site from November 24, 2017. The report says that Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The report added that she was accompanied by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma.

Thus, this picture is not from Manmohan Singh’s time as Prime Minister. At the time, Sonia Gandhi was the president of Congress.

Image 3: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh

We found the third picture in a National Herald report from January 26, 2019. The image was credited to senior Congress leader Anand Sharma. The report says that Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met South African President Ramaphosa.

Anand Sharma’s X post from 2019 said that a Congress delegation led by then president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Ramaphosa. In 2019, Manmohan Singh was neither the PM nor heading the Congress. At the time, Rahul Gandhi was the president of the Opposition party.

A delegation of @INCIndia, led by Congress president @RahulGandhi & former PM Dr Manmohan Singh met the RSA President Cyril Ramaphosa, also the president of the ANC. The parties have century old historic ties and had a discussion on party-to-party, regional & global issues. pic.twitter.com/d7oHghYAuU

— Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) January 26, 2019

Image 4: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with Sonia Gandhi, Anand Sharma and Manmohan Singh

After a reverse image search, we found the same image used in a WION report from October 5, 2019. The report states that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party leaders, including Anand Sharma and former PM Manmohan Singh. At this time, Sonia Gandhi was the interim Congress president.

Thus, photos of meetings between foreign delegates and Congress leaders are being shared with misleading claims that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi sidelined ex-PM Manmohan Singh. Singh was not meeting them as the Indian PM but as a Congress leader and the images were after his tenure as PM.

Moreover, these meetings were between foreign leaders and the Opposition party. On the Congress’s side, they were led by the party president. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi were party presidents at the time and led these talks on behalf of Congress.