As major news networks called the US Presidential race in favour of Democrat Joe Biden, several users on social media claimed that India’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been invited as the ‘chief guest’ for Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
However, a senior party official close to the former Prime Minister confirmed to The Quint’s WebQoof team that the claim is false.
CLAIM
Several users circulated pictures of Singh and Biden to claim that he has been invited as the ‘chief guest’ at the President-elect’s swearing-in ceremony.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
According to a New York Times report, Biden is expected to be sworn-in as the 46th President of the United States on 20 January in an outdoor ceremony.
The report mentions that apart from the President, Vice President, President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families, the chief and associate justices of the Supreme Court and other guests are present in the inaugural ceremony. It however, doesn’t mention any invitation to a ‘chief-guest’.
A senior party official close to the former Prime Minister also confirmed to The Quint that the claims are false and Manmohan Singh has received no such invitation.
According to a press release by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, responsible for the swearing-in ceremony since 1901, the planning for the 59th Inaugural Ceremony has been kicked off, but it does not mention any ‘chief guest’.
In the past, there have been “invited guests” but no “chief guest” to the ceremony.
Further, photos of Singh with Biden, used to claim that he would be the chief-guest of his swearing-in ceremony, could be traced back to 2013, when Biden had visited India as the US Vice President and met the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
While one photo of Singh and Biden shaking hands was clicked by Press Information Bureau on 23 July 2013, the other was clicked by White House photographer David Lienemann on the same day.
Evidently, Singh had not received an invitation to be the ‘chief guest’ of President-elect Biden’s swearing-in at the time of publishing this article.
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