False Claim of PM Modi Being a Contender for the Nobel Peace Prize Resurfaces

FactCheck

BOOM found that the video was from March 2022 and the Times Now report had grossly misquoted Toje to make these false claims. Toje was invited to speak at the 'Alternative Development Model and Peace' event in Delhi on March 14 when he was interviewed. When asked by reporters if Modi was a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, he simply said, "I hope every leader in every nation is inspired to do the work that is necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." Nowhere did Toje state that Modi was being considered for the award. We also watched other interviews of Toje from that day and found that he had given no such statement. BOOM also reached out at that time to Olav Njølstad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, who confirmed that Toje had been misquoted. Njølstad also revealed that as a part of the committee, Toje was not permitted to reveal the nominees for the prize. We had also spoken to Manoj Kumar Sharma, part of the core committee that organised the event in Delhi. Sharma had refuted the viral claims and said that he was present at the event and did not to his knowledge, hear Toje make such a comment.