Image of Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan touching Narendra Modi’s feet is digitally altered

By: Rajeswari Parasa
February 16 2024

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Screenshots of the viral photo shared online and the original image (Source: X/The New Indian Express/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

Chief Minister of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (popularly called Jagan), met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on February 9 to discuss several issues, including the release of funds for the Polavaram project, an under-construction multipurpose irrigation project.

In this context, an image circulating on social media claims to show YS Jagan Mohan Reddy bowing and touching Modi's feet. 

Sharing the image, some users used coarse language and said that Jagan is from Kadapa (an Andhra Pradesh district known for its factionalism) and that someone like him 'wouldn't bend' in front of anyone, but even he bent before Modi. Archived versions of such posts can be found here, here, and here.  

Screenshot of the viral image posted online. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the viral image is fake.

What are the facts? 

A very evident indication that the image was digitally edited is the unusual appearance of Modi's head; his face appears unusually large for his body. The area around his head is also blurry, indicating that Modi's face was superficially added to a different image.

A reverse image search led us to a report by The New Indian Express published on February 23, 2023, which carried the original image. This image shows Jagan touching the feet of outgoing Andhra Pradesh Governor, Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, during a farewell event. The image was captioned, "CM seeks blessings of outgoing Governor Harichandan by touching his feet." Several elements, such as the vehicle in the background and the faces of the two officials standing behind Harichandan and Jagan among others, are the same as seen in the viral clip.

Comparison between the viral image and the photo published by The New Indian Express (Source: Facebook/The New Indian Express/Screenshots)

Another news portal, Lokmat News, had also published the original image, crediting it to GVS Ramana, a correspondent for The Hindu.

News channel OdishaTV uploaded a YouTube video on February 22, 2023, in which we can see Jagan receiving and greeting the former governor and touching his feet. Another popularly-watched YouTube channel, YoYo TV, also uploaded a video of the farewell ceremony. Around the 1:09 mark, we can see Jagan touching Harichandan's feet.

The verdict

An image from February 2023 of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy with Biswa Bhusan Harichandan has been digitally manipulated to show that the Andhra Pradesh CM touched the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Therefore, we mark this claim as fake.