As India is all prepared to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi on 9th and 10 September, several Congress leaders and others in the left-liberal camp were caught spreading fake news in an attempt to damage India’s relations with other nations. Several Congress leaders, including Pawan Khera and Sashi Tharoor, claimed that hoardings have been put up ahead of G20 summit which shows that PM Modi is ranked ahead in popularity ahead of several other global leaders.
The hoarding said that it was put by BJP leader Vijay Goel. Pawan Khera tweeted, “Is this how we welcome our guests, @VijayGoelBJP ji?”
The hoarding has the image of PM Modi along with the images of the heads of Mexico, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Brazil and the USA, showing the popularity of each leader. PM Modi’s image is the largest is size, as his popularity is highest with 78%.
Notably, Switzerland is not a member of G20. Pawan Khera later deleted the tweet.
Shashi Tharoor had also posted the image on X with a tweet in Hindi claiming that the BJP was indulging in sycophancy instead of the Indian philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhava. However, he later deleted the tweet.
Anti-BJP journalist Rohini Singh also made the same claim, saying that full preparations are on for insulting the guests. Same claims were made by several other journalists and politicians.
Even India Today also propagated the claim that the hoarding has been put up ahead of the G20 Summit, thereby insulting the heads of states visiting Delhi to participate in the event. The media house published a report containing the claims of the Congress leaders, saying that BJP’s Delhi unit has put up hoardings in the city ahead of the G20 Summit, showing cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other global readers based on their popularity rankings.
However, all these claims are false, because the hoarding has not been put up now ahead of the G20 summit. The image of the hoarding is old, and it was put up by Vijay Goel after a Morning Consult survey had found that PM Modi is the most popular leader with 78% votes. A report from 6 April carries the Associated Press photograph, clearly showing that the image is at least 5 months old. A Navbharat Times report from 12th April also carries a different photo of the same hoarding.
Therefore, it is clear that the hoarding was put up in April 2023, or maybe before that, in response to the results of the Morning Consult survey, and is not recent as claimed by Congress. The Congress party leaders spread fake news to claim that BJP was insulting the visiting dignitaries during the G20 Summit, which is completely false. The Congress party was aided by journalists and media houses like India Today to amplify the false claim.