Soumadip Dey

Claim: A picture of a turbaned man touching Sonia Gandhi's feet has been shared on social media repeatedly over the past few years, usually with the claim that it is the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

What Happened: A picture of a turbaned man touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi, with Rahul Gandhi standing behind her, has been shared over all major social media networks including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

This photo has been shared by various pages and handles and has received over hundreds of thousands of shares and comments. For instance, this photo was posted on the page 'I Support Amit Shah' on the 16th of July, 2018, and has received over 2700 shares at the time of writing.

Previously, it had also been shared by various pages like: फिर एक बार मोदी सरकार, RSS, and Bjp All India, which are all right-wing pages with a distinctly pro-BJP bias.

This image has been shared, commented on, and reacted to a substantial number of times, indicating that a quite a few people had in fact believed this picture to be accurate. Most people have reacted with disgust, claiming that it it depicts the sycophantic and subservient culture of the dynastic Congress party for the world to see.

Facts: The photograph has also been circulated as Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu touching Sonia Gandhi's feet.

However, none of the claims are true. The picture is in fact watermarked by Getty images, an American stock photo agency. The image can indeed be found in the website. The picture was uploaded on the 29th of November, 2011. The description on the original image reads: 'A representative touches the feet of Sonia Gandhi, as Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi looks on, during the Indian Youth Congress National Level Convention of Elected Office Bearers in New Delhi on Tuesday.'

Conclusion: Nowhere in the caption of the original picture does it say that the person touching Sonia Gandhi's feet is Manmohan Singh or Navjot Singh Sidhu. The original description says that the person is merely a representative of the party and nothing else, and if it had in fact been the former Prime Minister of the country it would undoubtedly have been mentioned. This is simply bandwagon propaganda perpetrators using an image juxtaposed with a false narrative based simply on a person wearing a turban and being a member of the Sikh community.