Fact Check: Old photos and videos of Sunak recently shared with false claims on social media
Users are sharing a video claiming about Sunak’s ‘griha pravesh’ (housewarming) and images of him lighting diyas at 10 Downing Street. Some others also shared videos with a claim that the new PM Rishi Sunak took blessings from vedic pundits on October 24, 2022.
Hyderabad: Many images and videos of Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, have been widely shared on social media after he assumed charge.
Users are sharing a video claiming about Sunak's 'griha pravesh' (housewarming) and images of him lighting diyas at 10 Downing Street. Some others also shared videos with a claim that the new PM Rishi Sunak took blessings from vedic pundits on October 24, 2022.
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Fact check:
All the claims are false and misleading.
We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found a post in August 2022, by Rishi Sunak about his visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor temple (a Hare Krishna temple in the UK). He posted the video before he became UK's Prime Minister.
Upon further research, we also found the same images of his visit posted on the Facebook page of Bhaktivedanta Manor temple. Hence, the posted video was not shot at 10 Downing Street (the official residence and the office of the British Prime Minister).
https://www.gov.uk/government/
Second claim:
Also, we found many that many Facebook users posted the same video with a caption, that read, "Video shows new UK PM Rishi Sunak taking blessings from Vedic pundits on 24 October 2022."
We closely noticed the video and found 'The Conservative Friends of India' written in the background. Taking it as a cue, we searched the internet and found a Facebook message about Rishi Sunak posted in August 2022.
Moreover, the official 'Ready4Rishi' campaign Twitter account, also shared images from the same event in August 2022. People wearing the same dresses as in the video can be found in the posted photos. This made it clear that the video posted was not shot on October 24, 2022.
Third claim:
A Facebook post by India TV shared a photo of Rishi Sunak claiming that the new UK PM lit up diyas (lamps) outside 11 Downing Street on Diwali.
We ran a reverse image search and found the full photo from which the image was cropped, on the Reuters website. The description of the photo reads, "Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak lights candles outside Downing Street ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali, in London, Britain, November 12, 2020".
Further, we also found the same photo on Rishi Sunak's Twitter account posted in 2020.
Hence, old and unrelated images and videos are being shared as recent ones after Rishi సునాక్ assumed charge as UK Prime Minister.