Fact Check: Did senior Congress leader TS Singh Deo touch Rahul Gandhi's feet?

Sycophancy is quite common in Indian politics. This time Congress president Rahul Gandhi is being targeted on social media for a viral photo which shows TS Singh Deo, a cabinet minister in the newly formed Congress government in Chhattisgarh. In the viral photo, Deo, who is much older to Gandhi, is seen bowing to touch his feet.

A Facebook page, 'India against Presstitudes', posted this photograph with a message: "48-year-old senior blessing his 80-year-old junior. My friend Pappu ji is kind".

Thousands of people shared this post and hundreds commented on it, attacking Rahul and the Congress culture. Many people even doubted if the picture was photoshopped.

India Today's Fact Check team found that the photograph is real. Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo did indeed bow in front of Rahul.

Other Facebook pages like 'Social Tamasha', 'I support Modi Ji and BJP' also carried this picture with various captions hitting out at the Congress president.
In the photograph, one can see a grey-haired man bowing in front of Rahul. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also standing beside Rahul with a bouquet in hand on the red carpet. Senior Congress leader RPN Singh can also be seen in the crowd.

India Today TV spoke to TS Singh Deo to check the claims made on social media regarding the photograph. He confirmed that this is the venue of the swearing-in ceremony on December 17 and he was present there when Rahul Gandhi arrived. However he did not try to touch Rahul's feet and only shook hands. According to him, the photo is morphed.

But at the same time, Deo himself admitted that he has a habit of taking the blessings of senior party leaders by touching their feet on special occasions irrespective of their age.

"On that day too, I touched feet of the guests sitting on the dais after the oath taking," said Singh Deo. "Just after my taking oath as a minister, I even tried to touch Rahul Gandhi's feet on the dais but he stopped me from doing it," he added.
Singh Deo indeed touched the feet of the guests on the dais and Rahul Gandhi stopped him; this can be seen in this video.

We could not find any supporting video which would have clearly established the sequence of events captured in the viral photo. But we could also not find any evidence to support the claim of Deo that the picture is morphed.

Moreover, when we pressed upon Deo to describe clearly what had happened at that moment, he gave self-contradictory statements. He even talked about picking up a napkin lying on the floor. But no such napkin is visible in the photo.

Looking closely at the photo, we observed that the shadows were aligned perfectly with the characters, hinting that the image is real.

Rajasthan Patrika, a local newspaper, also carried this viral photo claiming that the minister was actually trying to pick up a thread hanging loosely on the floor from the bouquet in Manmohan Singh's hands. But it can be seen that the thread hanging from the bouquet is nowhere close to the floor. Moreover, Singh Deo is bowing in front of Rahul Gandhi and not Manmohan Singh who is standing few steps away.

We also spoke to Congress leader RPN Singh, who was also present with Rahul. He confirmed that Singh Deo tried to touch Rahul's feet at the entrance but the Congress chief stopped him midway.

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