Claim: Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman travels to office by a metro train every day, according to a viral video on WhatsApp.
Fact: Sitharaman does not travel to work via metro every day; the video, in fact, shows an uncommon instance when she took the Delhi Metro while travelling to an election campaign event of a fellow politician.
On 12 July 2024, Soch Fact Check received a video on WhatsApp that showed India’s minister of finance and corporate affairs and a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nirmala Sitharaman, travelling in a metro train along with the public. The caption accompanying the clip reads:
“She is the current Finance Minister of 4 trillion dollars economy, 5 trillion stock capitalization, 700 billion foreign reserves.She is the Indian Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman who travels to office by Metro Train every day.🚆 🇮🇳”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search, which suggests that the video is not recent and that the event was a one-off instance.
On 17 May 2024, Sitharaman travelled via the Delhi Metro train to Laxmi Nagar, an area in East Delhi, and interacted with fellow passengers, according to various media outlets such as Hindustan Times, ABP News, The Economic Times, and Asian News International (ANI).
“During her journey, she conversed with a woman and her children. One of the boys expressed his desire to meet her, and in response, she asked him his name and what grade he was in. She also spoke with the woman’s other child,” ABP News reported.
The Economic Times wrote that Sitharaman “opted for a unique mode of transport, the Delhi Metro”, suggesting that this is not how she travels routinely. Times Now noted that the minister was “surrounded by her security detail and other passengers”.
The move came ahead of an electoral campaign for Harsh Malhotra, her fellow BJP politician and then a candidate for the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, earlier this year, according to reports by Republic World and The Times of India.
The Indian finance minister’s official social media accounts also posted visuals from her metro train ride on 17 May that can be seen here, here, and here.
Smt @nsitharaman travels in Delhi Metro to Laxmi Nagar and interacts with fellow commuters. pic.twitter.com/HYSq3oUiAo
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) May 17, 2024
Sitharaman was present at the Laxmi Nagar metro station along with her security detail, as evidenced by pictures available on photo agency Getty Images here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Lastly, Soch Fact Check did not find any authentic report suggesting that the minister takes the metro daily to go to her office.
We also spoke to two fact-checkers from an IFCN-accredited organisation in India, who confirmed that Sitharaman is usually accompanied by security and protocol and does not take the metro train regularly. Moreover, another IFCN signatory in India, Vishvas News published a Hindi-language fact-check of the same video, labelling it as misleading.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the claim was shared on multiple social media platforms. On Facebook, it was posted here, here, here, and here, as well as with the additional text “پاکستانی حُکمرانوں شرم ہے [Have some shame, Pakistani rulers]” here.
The video was also posted on X (formerly Twitter) here, here, here, and here. Shared here by a Pakistani user, the clip garnered over 138,800 views, as of writing time.
Conclusion: Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman does not travel to work via metro every day; the video, in fact, shows a one-off instance when she took Delhi Metro while travelling to an election campaign event of a fellow politician.
Background image in cover photo: @nirmala.sitharaman
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