After the death of former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on December 26, 2024, a photo of a man bending down to touch the feet of politician Sonia Gandhi appeared in posts that falsely identified the man as Singh. His critics have often portrayed Singh as a successor to Gandhi, the longest-serving leader of the opposition Congress party. But the photo circulating showed a Congress party worker and not Singh, according to the photographer who took it in November 2011.
“Those who protest in the name of the Constitution, where were you when the country saw the slave leader Manmohan Singh licking the feet of a bar dancer from 2004 to 2013,” read the Hindi language. X post which was shared on December 29, 2024.
It included a picture of a man in a saffron colored headdress bowing in front of former Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi in what appears to be an attempt to touch her feet.
The post surfaced days after the death of Mr Manmohan Singh – Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 – credited with overseeing economic growth in Asia's fourth largest economy during his first term (archive link).
Critics, however, said yes Sonia GandhiItalian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi and leader of the Congress party during the Singh era, who was the power behind the throne (archive link).
“Bar dancing” refers to allegations by Gandhi's detractors that she worked as a bar dancer in Italy before meeting Rajiv.
Further Hindi text was overlaid on the photo – which bore the logo of the Getty Images group – saying it was taken when Gandhi was 71 and Singh was 85.
“This was our former prime minister. At least they should have respected his age,” he said.
Screenshot of the fake post taken on December 30, 2024
The photo was also shared with similar claims elsewhere X and on Facebook.
False identity
A Google background image search found that it was published by Getty Images on December 1, 2011 (archive link).
“A delegate touches Sonia Gandhi's feet as Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi looks on at the Indian Youth Congress national-level convention of Elected Office Bearers in New Delhi on Tuesday,” its head said. -writing.
Screenshot of the photo published on the Getty Images website
The caption to the photo said it was taken by photographer Shekhar Yadav on November 29, 2011.
AFP reached out to Yadav who said his picture was shared with false claims. He said on December 30: “The picture was not of Manmohan Singh but of a youth transport worker.
At the time the photo was taken, an Indian newspaper Times of Hindustan report that a national conference for elected officials of the Indian Youth Congress was held on November 28 and 29, 2011 in Delhi (archive link).
Photos from the conference – including one from Getty Images – show that Singh was wearing the trademark blue turban, not saffron as seen in the photo shared in the fake posts (archive link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in one fake post (left) and the one published by Getty Images that showed Singh (right):
A screenshot comparison of the image shared in fake posts (left) and a photo from a 2011 conference on the Getty Images website (right)
Video from the event uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Indian Youth Congress on November 30, 2011 also shows Singh wearing a blue turban (archive link).
