Fake you very much: 8 times PM Modi's supporters showed too much Photoshop love
With great power... comes great responsibility - something that Modi's army of supporters seems to forget while photoshopping his face, and sometimes even generating fake stories with his name.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hands down the first Indian politician to milk the internet - a strategy that went a long way in ensuring his 2014 general election victory.
His persona and an army of social media influencers have ensured a massive internet reach for PM Modi. Currently, he's the second most popular world leader on Facebook, third most popular leader on YouTube and the second most-followed Indian on Twitter.
But, with great power... comes great responsibility - something that Modi's army of supporters seems to forget while photoshopping his face, and sometimes even generating fake stories with his name.
Sample this latest photoshop gag dedicated to Modi:
Hoaxes like these around the prime minister have been a common sight since his election campaign took off. So much so that people are even making jokes about his photoshop-connect:
Now Haters will say that this is #Photoshopped pic.twitter.com/Kb8Cl63s4E
Dhaval Patel (@dhaval241086) July 14, 2016
Modi Thot he wud b the only pioneer with Photoshop,The memes wit his latest words are proof dat any1 can #PoMoneModi pic.twitter.com/0FjQsPDuKuMishal Hamza (@MishaalH) May 12, 2016
Haters will say this is Photoshop. ?? pic.twitter.com/o60k8xDs3UPokemon Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) July 13, 2016
So what are the most ridiculous photoshop episodes surrounding Modi?
Take a look:
1. Window wonder
When a government agency as important as the Press Information Bureau unnecessarily floats a photoshopped image, it has to be the worst offender ever. PIB tweeted this photo of PM Modi during the 2015 Chennai floods:
This was the original picture:
This was probably the most embarrasing gaffe involving PM Modi. It triggered the #PhotoshopSarkar trend on Facebook and even made headlines in China.
2. Fake Assange endorses, Wiki disposes
In the run-up to the big bad ballot, Modi's fans shared this image of an "endorsement" by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, calling the BJP leader "incorruptible".
Narendra Modi for Prime Minister!! "@PreetamV: pic.twitter.com/dZabXcVEbj"Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) January 25, 2014
Wikileaks took to Twitter to deny that Assange made any such comments. They even clarified it was Rajkot Congress leader Manoharsinh Jadej who made the comment.
Narenda Modi's #BJP has been pushing this fake #Modi endorsement http://t.co/kyryXQpmht - but #Assange has never said anything about #ModiWikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 16, 2014
The Narenda #Modi "incorruptable" quote comes from Rajkot Congress party leader Manoharsinh Jadej: https://t.co/leCkQ8PNSK #bjp #indiaWikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 16, 2014
#India: How #Modi supporters aggressively pushed fake #Assange endorsement (scroll down to last week and beyond) https://t.co/VtS2vWyEGfWikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 16, 2014
#India: Here is the BJP's Pritti Ghandi pushing fake #Assange endorsement of #Modi to 40k people https://t.co/kh8HsMlgqiWikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 17, 2014
This fake endorsement earned BJP a tonne of ridicule and spawned hilarious memes:
3. Broombastic clean sweep
Another manipulated image that caught everyone's fancy around elections was this black and white "rare" photo of Modi "sweeping floor in 1988 during RSS rally".
Very humble, yes, but an RTI enquiry from January this year revealed "the said photograph is morphed and the person in the photo is not Mr Narendra Modi." This was the real photograph:
4. Presidential speech therapy?
"Even Obama listens (to) the speech of NaMo," read the caption of another photoshopped image that showed US President Barack Obama watching a Narendra Modi speech on TV.
Of course, the image went viral. In reality, the photo was more than three years old. In the original image, Obama was watching a speech by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak days before he was toppled.
Read: Is Barack Obama taking tips from Narendra Modi's speeches? No, it's a morphed picture
5. NaMobama
Obama is actually Modi fans' favourite photoshop companion. Sample these:
6. Poster power
Clearly, it's not just Modi's social media minions who take to photoshop with enormous passion. BJP's election manifesto in Varanasi and posters in several cities showed crowds that were clearly copied and pasted next to each other:
7. Lyin' about lions
One of the most hilarious photoshops involving Modi is this image of him walking alongside a pride of lions:
Believe it or not, the photo is actually a page from the 2011 Kingfisher Calendar. And that's model Charlotte Lohmann.
8. No namaz business
A few months after his election, this image of Modi offering namaz in Turkmenistan went viral:
The real photo, taken at the mausoleum of the first president of Turkmenistan in Ashgabat, shows Modi standing simply with folded hands:
