Congress Leaders And Journalists Share Old Picture Accusing Modi Of 'Insulting' World Leaders At G20, Delete After Being Called Out For Misinformation

As the Indian government gears up to host the G20 summit in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September, Bharatiya Janata Party opposition political leaders and journalists ideologically aligned with them, spread misinformation that purportedly showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi insulting other world leaders.

They shared a picture on their X (formerly Twitter) accounts, showing Prime Minister Modi ahead of world leaders in popularity. Those who shared the picture included Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Pawan Khera, and journalists Rohini Singh and Sakshi Joshi.

The hoarding congratulated Modi on being the world’s most popular leader with the highest approval ranking of 78 per cent. It showed Modi towering over other world leaders such as heads of Mexico, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Brazil and the United States.

BJP was quick to call out the misinformation. BJP leader Vijay Goel posted, "This is fake news. No such hoarding has been put. Congress should desist from such petty politics at a time when India is hosting the world.”

Later, Tharoor and Khera deleted their posts. Singh also deleted her post after being called out.

Below are some screenshots of the original posts:

The news was also picked up by global publications such as The Washington Times and The Independent.

The hoarding, however, is not morphed. It was indeed put up in the capital city, but at least five months ago.

It was put up by Vijay Goel after a survey by US-based Morning Consult found Prime Minister Modi to be the most popular leader with 78 per cent votes.

One can see the poster in this report by Navbharat Times published in April.

From today (8 September) onwards, heads of 40 state of G20 nations and leaders of global organisations have started arriving at New Delhi for the summit.

The guests include US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.