An image showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a tonsured head and clean shave is going viral on social media with a claim that he shaved off his head after his mother's demise, following the Hindu rituals.
Modi's mother Heeraben Modi passed away in Ahmedabad on Friday, 30 December. She was 99.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
How did we find out the original picture?: We conducted a reverse image search on the viral image on Google and came across an article on Moneycontrol, which carried the original image.
The article was from 2017 and the image's caption stated that it was clicked on the first day of the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi.
The image was credited to a new agency Press Trust of India (PTI).
The original image was clicked in 2017.
(Source: Moneycontrol/Screenshot)
Next, we checked PTI's archive and found the original photo using relevant keywords.
The original photo was found on PTI archives.
(Source: PTI/Screenshot)
Comparison between the two: We also compared the viral image with the original one and found that the image had been edited to make Modi look bald.
Comparison between the viral and the original image.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
No news about PM Modi shaving his head: Modi can be seen with an unshaved head while performing the last rites of his mother on 30 December.
The recent images shared by him on Twitter on 31 December shows him with Air Marshal PV Iyer, in which he does not appear bald.
Conclusion: An edited image of PM Modi with a shaved head is going viral on social media.
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