Altered Clips of PM Modi Listening to Bageshwar Dham's Dhirendra Shastri Viral
We found that both the videos have been digitally altered to show PM Modi watching Shastri on television.
advertisement
Two videos are going viral on the internet, with users claiming that they show Prime Minister Narendra Modi watching Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, also known as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar of Bageshwar Dham temple, on his television.
(Swipe right to view both claims.)
An archive of the post can be seen here.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
At the time of writing this report, the first video had garnered around 50,000 shares. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What is the truth?: Both videos have been altered to show PM Modi watching Shastri on television.
The first video shows PM Modi chairing a high-level meeting to review the Odisha train accident that happened in Balasore.
The second one is from 2019 and shows PM Modi watching the launch of Chandrayaan 2.
VIDEO 1
A Google Lens search of a keyframe of the video led us to a similar video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of PMO India.
The video was uploaded on 3 June.
It was titled, "PM Modi chairs a high-level meeting to review the situation in relation to Balasore Train Accident."
PM Modi was seen chairing a meeting and taking stock of the situation in the wake of Odisha triple train accident.
On comparing one of the keyframes from the YouTube clip to the viral video, we found that the latter has been edited.
Both images have a similar setting and several similarities.
(Source: YouTube/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
News reports: The New Indian Express carried a similar visual in one of their reports and said that PM Modi had convened a high-level meeting to review the situation in Balasore. It also mentioned that he would also visit the accident site.
VIDEO 2
On performing a simple reverse image search, we came across a tweet posted on news agency ANI's official Twitter handle.
The tweet was posted on 22 July 2019, and its caption mentioned that PM Modi was seen watching the launch of Chandrayaan 2.
A comparison between keyframes of both the videos, we found that the viral one has been edited.
The comparison clearly shows that the viral video has been digitally altered.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
News reports: A report published by NDTV in July 2019 said that PM Modi watched the launch of Chandrayaan 2 from his office. It also carried a still from the video which looked similar.
Conclusion: It is clear that both videos have been digitally altered to show PM Modi watching Shastri on television.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)