(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 24 December 2018 and is being reshared in the light of the claim circulating on social media platforms again.)
There is nothing new about social media posts praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is nothing wrong about it either. But, if the post wrongly quotes someone who happens to be a former President of India, it becomes a matter of grave concern.
CLAIM
Two separate posts claiming that former Presidents Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee praised Narendra Modi have gone viral on social media.
The post quoting Pratibha Patil hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being a visionary leader.
The message reads, “प्रतिभा पाटिल ने कहा कि भले ही मैं कांग्रेस पार्टी से हूँ, लेकिन मैं आज भारत देश की समाज सेविका के रूप में भारतीय जनता को यह कहना चाहती हूँ कि, नरेंद्र मोदी ही ऐसे एक इंसान हैं जो भारत देश को एक अच्छा राष्ट्र बना सकते हैं, क्योंकि उनमे वो निर्णय लेने कि क्षमता है जो भारत देश के देशवासियों को नयी दिशा प्रदान कर सकते हैं।” (Translated: Pratibha Patil said that even though I am from Congress party, but as a social worker of India, I want to say that Narendra Modi is the only person who can transform India into a better country because he has the ability to take decisions that can help Indians in achieving new direction.)
Several social media users have shared the image with identical narrative on Twitter and Facebook.
SIMILAR CLAIMS IN THE PAST
Messages with similar claims have been doing the rounds on social media in the past as well.
PRANAB MUKHERJEE MISQUOTED AS WELL
The other viral post quotes former President Pranab Mukherjee saying that Congress would have destroyed India, if Narendra Modi would not have become the Prime Minister.
While, The Quint could not find an instance of this post being circulated on Twitter, a Facebook page Modi Government had garnered 880 shares of this post, till this article is being written.
TRUE OR FALSE
The Quint got in touch with the offices of both the former presidents, who clearly said that these messages are fake.
“This claim is totally false. It’s a fake news that had been viral earlier too,” Pratibha Patil’s office said.
On a similar note, Pranab Mukherjee’s office said, “This is definitely fake and that message should be put out strongly”.
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