Video of PM Narendra Modi watching Dhirendra Shastri’s speech on TV is edited

By: Umme Kulsum
June 5 2023

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Context
A video of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watching a speech by Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, on a television screen is widely circulating on social media. 

The video is being shared with a text in Hindi, which loosely translates to, “Prime Minister Modi watching the video of Shri Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, Peethadhishwar of Bageshwar Dham, where he speaks about parents. Neither is there anybody greater than a mother on this earth nor will there won’t be.” The post had received over a thousand views and about a hundred likes at the time of writing this story. The edited video is also widely shared on YouTube.

However, the video is edited. The video is from 2019, when Modi was watching the launch of Chandrayaan 2 on his television screen.

In Fact
On performing a Google reverse image search, we found a video published by Hindustan Times on YouTube on 22 July 2019. This video showed Modi watching the live telecast of Chandrayaan 2. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched India’s second moon mission on that date. The launch happened from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. 

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, also shared the video of Modi witnessing the launch on July 22, 2019, on his official Facebook account.

The two videos had several similarities, including the prime minister’s clothes. We could also match several keyframes of the viral video with the one posted by Hindustan Times. For instance: At around 19 seconds, Modi can be seen closely looking at the screen with his hand close to his mouth. The same frame could be seen in the viral video. 

We also found a 2019 tweet on Modi’s personal account, where he shared photographs of him watching the lift-off. 

What About the Dhirendra Shastri Video?
We also looked for Shastri’s video, which has been digitally added to Modi’s screen, and found that it was posted on the official YouTube channel of Bageshwar Dham Sarkar on May 22, 2023. The visuals seen in the viral video can be seen at 5:23 minutes. We also found a livestream on the YouTube channel of Sanskar TV from 7 January 2023. The visuals can be seen around 1:57:23.

Therefore, it is evident that the viral video of PM Modi watching a speech by the self-styled godman Bageshwar Dham Sarkar has been edited.

The Verdict
A video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi watching the live telecast of Chandrayaan 2 has been edited to claim that he was watching an address by Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Dham. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.