Was Manmohan Singh Compelled to vacate his seat by Sonia Gandhi, resulting in an insult? Here is the truth behind the viral video…

A video is going viral on social media showing former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh being asked by a guard to vacate his seat, which is later occupied by Sonia Gandhi. The video is shared as a proof of how Sonia Gandhi controlled the then PM and at times even insulted him in the process. 

Upon investigation, we discovered that the video has been selectively cropped and shared in a deceptive manner. Sonia Gandhi did not ask Dr. Manmohan Singh to vacate his seat. Here is the complete truth of the incident seen in the viral video.

Viral Video

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In the video shared in the post, we can see a guard asking Dr. Manmohan Singh to leave his seat as Sonia Gandhi looks over. Later as Dr. Singh leaves his seat, Sonia Gandhi occupies it. The caption of the post is as follows: “Remote controllers will never know the real power of self reliant government. CONgress is having burns because of Narendra Modi Ji’s decisive power.”

Thus, the user is implying that Dr. Manmohan Singh was remote controlled by Sonia Gandhi and could not make any decision by giving this video as an example. This can be validated from the comment section as well. Users have commented that Sonia Gandhi insulted the Prime Minister just to flatter her ‘ego’.

However, did Sonia Gandhi really forced a Prime Minister to vacate a seat to fulfill her whim? Let us find out.

Fact Check

We did a reverse image search on some screenshots of the video and found a news report by India TV on their YouTube channel. You can watch the report titled ‘Kissa Kursi Ka: PM, Sonia Exchange Seats at UPA Meeting’ below:

The Special Protection Group (SPG) provides security to the Prime Minister and his immediate family members. Between 1991 and 2019, all the former Prime Ministers and their family members had SPG security. The SPG has protocols designed their protectees. This includes seating arrangement at events. 

The video is of a meeting of UPA leaders in 2011. As per the report by India TV, the SPG had assigned seats to Dr. Manmohan Singh who was the Prime Minister and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who was then the UPA Chairperson. However, Dr. Singh and Mrs. Gandhi sat in each other’s seat. The SPG guards noticed this and brought it to the attention of Mrs. Gandhi who then stood up and later the guards informed about this mix-up to Dr. Singh. Dr. Singh then humbly vacated his chair and sat on his designated predetermined seat. In the comparison given below, you can see how Sonia Gandhi was sitting on the left and Dr. Singh was sitting to the right. After switching places, they sit on their designated seats, that is Dr. Singh to the left and Mrs. Gandhi to the right.

You can read this fact check in Malayalam by clicking on the link given below:

Also Read | മുന്‍ പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി മന്‍മോഹന്‍സിംഗും സോണിയ ഗാന്ധിയുടെ പഴയ വീഡിയോ തെറ്റിദ്ധരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന തരത്തില്‍ പ്രചരിപ്പിക്കുന്നു…

Conclusion

From the investigation, it is clear that Sonia Gandhi did not compel former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to leave his seat for her. In fact, during a UPA meeting in 2011, Mrs. Gandhi and Dr. Singh had accidentally sat in each other’s seats. The error was brought to their attention by the SPG guards, and both individuals kindly agreed to switch back to their original positions.