Is a gold bust of PM Modi installed in Saudi Arabia- What’s the truth?

This gold bust of PM Modi was made in Gujarat by a gold merchant and has no links to Saudi Arabia.

A video showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bust in gold is going viral on social media, with the claim that a gold statue of Modi has been installed in Saudi Arabia. In the footage, a half-length gold statue of Narendra Modi can be seen on display, with 156 clearly written on it. The caption of the post states that “People make statues out of wax, but in Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, they made and installed a gold statue of Modi”.

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Fact Check

When we searched using the keywords Narendra Modi’s golden statue, we found reports of many media outlets regarding the news.

 According to NDTV report from 20 January, 2023, this half-length gold statue of Narendra Modi was created by a gold merchant in Surat, Gujarat.

As per the report “A jeweller from Gujarat’s Surat city has carved a bust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, weighing 156 gm in 18-carat gold to commemorate the Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in the recently held state Assembly election.

As the BJP won 156 out of 182 seats in the polls held in December last year, the weight of the prime minister’s gold bust was kept at 156 gm, said Basant Bohra, owner of the jewellery-making firm, Radhika Chains. The bust has become an instant hit among the masses and many are interested in purchasing it, but the jeweller has not decided to sell his creation as yet. The report further adds “I am a fan of Narendra Modi and wanted to make something as a tribute to him. It took around three months for nearly 20 artisans to make this bust at our factory. I am satisfied with the final outcome. There is no price tag because it is not for sale as of now,” said Mr Bohra, a native of Rajasthan who settled in Surat for 20 years. Gold worth ₹ 11 lakh has been used to make the bust, he said.

You can watch a video published by  ANI News about this idol below.

In further search we found the same video shared on Twitter on 11January, 2023, with the description “Everyone has seen wax statues of prominent personalities. This is not a wax statue but a Gold showcased in Bombay Gold exhibition. Enough to understand the popularity of Modi Ji”.

For more clarification, our Gujarat representative spoke to the owner of the Radhika chains who made the idol and he informed: “This idol was made by us. Now we have sold it. It was purchased by a private individual in India. Never sold to Saudi and this is a false claim.” 

Many media outlets have reported about Modi’s golden idol. But there is no mention of this idol being displayed in Saudi.  

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral video to be False. This golden bust of PM Modi in the video is not from Saudi Arabia. This statue of Modi was made of 156 grams of gold by a gold merchant in Surat to express his joy at the BJP winning a huge majority in the last assembly elections in Gujarat.