Media channel TV9 Bharatvarsh and its journalists have resorted to spreading fake news claiming that PM Modi had gone to meet former PM Manmohan Singh at his residence to discuss Indian economy.
TV9 Bharatvarsh had run a report by Congress-friendly journalist Supriya Bhardwaj claiming that PM Modi had gone to meet former PM Manmohan Singh at his residence. The reports claimed exclusive details over the meeting.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRXvR5NSXIY]
The news report was shared on the media portal’s YouTube channel yesterday. Journalist Supriya Bhardwaj claimed that the PM and the former PM are to discuss economic issues in the country. The video has now been removed from YouTube.
However, Twitter user Ankur Singh has pointed out that TV9Bharatvarsh had made blatant fake claims using a 2014 video clip.
Fake news peddler @TV9Bharatvarsh cooked up entire story of Modi meeting Manmohan Singh using a 2014 clip.
Best is Rahul Gandhi’s fav journalist @Supriya23bh giving exclusive details about the Fake News of Meeting. pic.twitter.com/bNcn7CAxAJ
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) July 2, 2019
PM Modi has met former PM Manmohan Singh on several occasions in the past. The former PM had visited PM Modi at 7 RCR in May 2015 too. However, the particular video clip where PM Modi met Manmohan Singh at the latter’s residence and was greeted by Manmohan Singh and his wife is from May 2014, a day after PM Modi took oath as the PM of India for the first time. The PM had gone to meet his predecessor and the video was shared by PM Modi’s YouTube channel.
Not only TV9 Bharatvarsh, Jeetendra Baghel, an advocate and secretary at Congress had also tweeted the same 2014 video clip claiming that PM Modi has met Manmohan Singh at the latter’s residence to seek his advise over ‘how to increase India’s GDP’.
Baghel’s lies were slammed by Twitter user @pokershash.
2014 का विडीओ है। थोड़ा कम झूठ फैलाओ। और कांग्रेस जैसे गँवार ही बजट से GDP को जोड़ सकते है ??? pic.twitter.com/EuwbBHumaR
— Shash (@pokershash) July 2, 2019
In fact, no formal meeting between the present and former PM has taken place in recent days. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had met the former PM Singh last week. Though no official details of the meeting were available, it was cited as a ‘courtesy visit’.
It is not clear why TV9 Bharatvarsh had carried a report over a non-existent meeting using a 5-year-old video clip. However, the way Congress official Baghel has used the same clip to peddle a narrative that the PM has met Singh to ‘seek his advice’, it might have been another attempt to stick some relevance to a party that is fast becoming irrelevant in Indian politics after repeated poll debacles.
It is not the first time that TV9 Bharatvarsh has run blatant fake news. Earlier, they were caught publishing fake news over ‘missing EVMs’ during the Lok Sabha elections.
