Dr Manmohan Singh Touched Sonia Gandhi’s Feet? Here’s The Truth.

Former Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, passed away on 26 December 2024. Following his death, a picture went viral on social media with the claim that Dr Manmohan Singh touched Sonia Gandhi’s feet despite being much older than her. In the viral image, a person wearing a saffron turban can be seen touching Sonia Gandhi’s feet. Sharing the image on social media users claimed that the person wearing a saffron turban was Dr Manmohan Singh.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The person in the image was not Dr Manmohan Singh. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. This led us to the “Getty Images” website where the viral image was uploaded on 1 December 2021. The description of the image reads, “Indian Youth Congress Convention

NEW DELHI, INDIA – NOVEMBER 29: A representative touches the feet of Sonia Gandhi as Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi looks on during the Indian Youth Congress’s national level convention of Elected Office Bearers in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo by Shekhar Yadav/The India Today Group via Getty Images)”

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From the description of the image, it became clear that the person wearing a saffron turban was a representative of the Indian Youth Congress convention in 2011. The photograph was taken by Shekhar Yadav. 

We found another image of the same event on the Getty Images website where the then-prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was present wearing a blue turban. This photo was also taken by Shekhar Yadav according to the description. But, the person touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi in the viral image was wearing a saffron turban.

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We found another image from the same event where Dr Manmohan Singh can be seen sitting next to Sonia Gandhi.

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The comparison between the two images can be seen below. It can be seen clearly that Dr Manmohan Singh was wearing a blue turban and a black waistcoat, whereas the person touching Sonia Gandhi’s feet was wearing a saffron turban and a beige waistcoat. 

This makes it clear that the person in the viral image was not Dr Manmohan Singh.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The person touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi was not Dr Manmohan Singh. The image is from the Indian Youth Congress Convention held in November 2011, where the representative wearing a saffron turban touched the feet of Sonia Gandhi.