A video showing United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visiting the Bhaktivedanta Manor, the UK headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), in August this year, is being shared with the misleading claim that it is after he became prime minister .
In the video, Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty can be seen at the temple being greeted by Visakha Dasi, the temple president, and other monks. The manor was also the residence of ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada who lived there in the 1970s.
Sunak, 42, formally took charge as Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister after an audience with King Charles III on October 25, 2022, a day after he was elected the new leader of the Conservative Party.
The viral video is being shared with the caption, "Rishi Saunak the new PM of United Kingdom visits ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor..."
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The same video is also being shared with the caption on WhatsApp claiming, "Bhagavad Gita n Prabhu pad enters 10 downing street.Jai Shree Krishna," (sic).
BOOM received the video on our WhatsApp Tipline (77009 06588) inquiring about it.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found the viral video of Rishi Sunak along with his wife Akshata Murty visiting the UK ISKCON temple is from August 18, 2022, ahead of the festival of Janmashtami. The visit was while he was campaigning for the top job.
A relevant keyword search led us to several articles and posts by Sunak and ISKCON from August 2022 when he visited Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire, near London with his family.
Sunak tweeted on August 18, 2022, with the caption, "Today I visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with my wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami, in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday."
Sunak and his wife can be seen wearing the same outfits as in the viral video.
Bhaktivedanta Manor had also posted several photos on August 18, 2022, of Sunak's visit where we can see the same background and people present as in the viral video.
We also found the same video posted by SB Keshava Swami, a resident monk at ISKCON UK's headquarters, Bhaktivedanta Manor in September who was also present in the viral video and greeted by Sunak and his wife.
Swami posted it on Instagram in September with the caption, "Was a pleasure to meet @rishisunakmp & Akshata Murthy a few weeks ago. "Rishi" means a sage, a great thinker, derived from "drsya" which means "spiritual vision." We talked about the need for wisdom that breathes in a world that's suffocating from materialism"
A spokesperson for Bhaktivedanta Manor told BOOM via email, "We are clear that Bhaktivedanta Manor has had no role in sharing misinformation about the Hon Rishi Sunak visiting our Temple since his appointment as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party. We were proud to welcome Mr Sunak and his wife to celebrate the festival of Janmashtami with us in August 2022, and have since written to congratulate him on his new appointment."