A pair of photographs featuring PM Narendra Modi is being widely shared across social media. In the images, Narendra Modi is seen interacting with a cobbler and a few potters, respectively. The claim accompanying these photos suggests that the same individual is featured in both these pictures as a cobbler and potter. This fact-check article aims to scrutinise this claim and present the facts behind these images.
Claim: The cobbler and potter seen with Narendra Modi in both these photographs is the same individual.
Fact: These photos were taken during the Inauguration event of the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in Delhi on 17 September 2023, during which, PM Modi interacted with various craftsmen. Upon closer examination of videos of this event, it is clear that the two individuals posing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the photographs are, in fact, two different people. Therefore, the claim made in the post is False.
We began by performing a reverse image search on the internet using the two photographs to validate the claim. We learnt that on 17 September 2023, PM Modi inaugurated the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi, during which these photos were taken (here, here, and here).
In this video of the inauguration event available on the YouTube channel of the ANI News, we can see him meeting a potter and a cobbler.
Here, you can see him interacting with the potters. The viral claim is that the man sitting to the PM’s extreme right is the same one as the cobbler who appears a bit earlier in this video (also here). Observing them keenly will reveal that both of them are not the same person. You can see the difference between both of them in the following collage.
To sum up, it is clear that the claim circulating on social media about the same individual posing with Narendra Modi in two different pictures is False. The two persons in the photographs are distinct individuals.
