Rare Photo Of PM Modi With Anna Hazare? A Fact Check

An old photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a late Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Lakshmanrao Inamdar is viral with a false claim that it shows activist Anna Hazare and Modi photographed together at an RSS camp.

The photo is being shared with a caption in Marathi claiming it shows Hazare and Modi at an RSS camp and comes on the day when Hazare aged 83 has said that he will go on a hunger strike if his demands concerning farmers are not met by the Union government. Hazare announced the same on Sunday and said it will be his "last protest".

The caption to the viral photo translates to, "Rare photographs taken together of two brokers - scoundrels in an RSS camp. Enough to understand the character of a man."

(Original Marathi text : RSS च्या शिबीरातील दोन दलाल - भामट्यांचा एकत्रीतपणे काढलेला दुर्मिळ फोटोग्राफ्स.माणसाचे चरीत्र आणि चारित्र्य समजायला पुरेसा आहे)

View the post here and an archive here

The photo is viral with the same caption on Facebook.

FACT CHECK

A reverse image search on the photo showed results from news sites which identified the man as late RSS leader Lakshmanrao Inamdar who was widely considered Modi's mentor during his days with the Sangh.

The photo appears in a 2014 story published by the Magazine wing of the India Today in a story titled, "The man behind Modi : Lakshmanrao Inamdar"

The photo which does not provide courtesy or credit the source has the caption, "Narendra Modi (left) with Lakshman Rao Inamdar, shortlly before the latter's death." We looked through the India Today magazine archives and found the same story and photo in the May 19, 2014 issue of the magazine under the category of The Big Story for the said issue. The story details the friendship between Inamdar and Modi and the late veteran leader is credited for Modi's rise in RSS.

We further found that photo in news stories about rare photo of PM Modi with a story in News18 crediting the same photo to the Narendra Modi app. View the photo here

According to reports, Modi considered Inamdar his mentor and spent many years with him expanding the RSS's network in Gujarat. Inamdar, a veteran RSS leader who died in 1984 was popularly known as Vakil Saheb and is credited with recruiting a young Modi as a Balswayamsevak for the Sangh in Gujarat. Modi who has in several interviews spoken about Inamdar's role in his life and how close he was to the senior RSS leader has also written a book about him titled, "Vakil Saheb Lakshmanrao Inamdar".