Claim
Actor Kangana Ranaut shared an old news bulletin by Times Now that falsely claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being considered as a serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. The bulletin carried an interview with Asle Toje, Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, to make the false claims. The video was shared on Ranaut's X account with the caption, "Nobel prize committee member speaks about the prospects of our Prime Minister getting the Nobel Prize 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳"
Fact
BOOM had earlier debunked this claim in March 2023 when Toje was first interviewed at an event called 'Alternative Development Model and Peace' at Delhi. During media interviews at that time, Toje praised Modi's leadership and acknowledged India's role for global peace. However, when he was asked directly whether PM Modi was being considered for the Nobel peace prize, he merely said, "I hope every leader in every nation is inspired to do the work that is necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." We also watched the full live stream of the event and the interviews Toje gave after it and did not find any statement similar to the viral claim. We then reached out to Manoj Kumar Sharma, who was part of the Core Committee that organised the event who confirmed that he was present for the entire duration of the event and stated that Toje did not make any such comment. We also reached out to Olav Njølstad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute via email who said, "He (Toje) was misquoted and never made any such statement." Njølstad also revealed that as a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Toje was not permitted to reveal the names of the people being considered for the prize or speculate on their chances of winning.