Fact Check: 2022 image of PM submitting presidential nomination for Droupadi Murmu reshared with false claims

Hyderabad: An image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu accompanied by prominent leaders is widely circulated on social media. In the viral image, PM Modi could be seen handing over a form to the government.

Those sharing the photograph claim that the president was present at the time PM Modi submitted his candidature, implying potential impropriety or misuse of power by the president.

The image is being shared with the caption, “Can the president attend the form submission of a Lok Sabha candidate? The country is moving towards slavery. The Constitution is becoming like that. Watch and be silent. (translated from Hindi)”

Similar posts can be seen here and here. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The image is from 2022 and shows PM Narendra Modi handing over the nomination papers of NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, at Parliament House, in New Delhi.

We started our investigation by performing a reverse image search and found the same image uploaded on the official X handle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi dated June 24, 2022. The image was tweeted regarding the filing of nomination papers of now President Droupadi Murmu’s presidential candidature.

The viral image accompanied by two other images was shared with the caption, “Earlier today, accompanied leaders from different parties for the filing of nomination papers of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji.” It was also on the official Facebook page of PM Modi.

Moving forward, a keyword search led us to a News 18 report titled ‘Presidential Poles 2022: Droupadi Murmu files nominations in PM Modi’s presence’ carrying the same visuals published on June 25, 2022.

Similar reports were also found in Navbharat Times, Hindustan Times and more media outlets.

According to the Hindustan Times report, “Droupadi Murmu files her nomination papers for the presidential election in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and BJP President JP Nadda, at Parliament House.”

Lastly, we found the ANI coverage of the entire event of President Droupadi Murmu on the YouTube channel of The Print titled ‘Droupadi Murmu files nomination in Parliament for the president shell elections in presence of PM, Shah’ on June 24, 2022.

According to the description, “NDA’s candidate for Presidential elections, Droupadi Murmu files her nomination today at the Parliament building in Delhi. PM Modi, Union cabinet ministers & CMs of BJP & NDA-ruled states also present to offer support.”

Hence, we conclude that the viral image shows PM Narendra Modi handing over nomination papers for NDA’s presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu in 2022.