Claim: A video shows the humble beginnings of Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she arrives to meet her father at their ancestral home. The claim makes a comparison with the allegedly luxurious lifestyle of Pakistani politician Ishaq Dar.
Fact: In the video, Sitharaman meets the Indian poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s great nephew, Shri K V Krishnan, and not her father. The video does not show her house and is not representative of her lifestyle; therefore, the comparison with Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar is misleading.
On 22 February 2024, Soch Fact Check received a forwarded WhatsApp message containing a video of Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meeting with an elderly man. The following text was included as the caption:
“India’s Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman has gone to visit her father. See the condition of the house and compare with houses of our ministers. She is the Minister of the most important Ministry, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Compare her lifestyle with that of Ishaq Dar.”
Ishaq Dar is a veteran politician associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and has held the position of finance minister multiple times in the past.
Ahead of the formation of a new government following the controversial 2024 general elections, it is anticipated that Dar would once again bag the same ministry, according to multiple reports.
Fact or Fiction?
Reverse image search tools led us to this LinkedIn post from 6 February 2023 that is captioned, “#inspiring #Indian finance minister meeting her father in his house… Look at the condition of the house … She came to the town for some work, On the way, she visited… she is introducing her team members to her father …*Simplicity par excellence*… 🙏”
However, one of the comments under the post states, “That’s not her father 🙄,” while another reads, “This is video of FM visiting Kumaraswamy mutt in Varanasi and she was accompanied by some delegations and this is not her father, you can check the facts.”
Using this information, we searched Nirmala Sitharaman’s social media pages — including Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) — and found posts from 3 December 2022 where the video, identical to the one posted on LinkedIn, was shared here, here, and here, respectively.
The caption for Sitharaman’s Facebook video is, “Siva Madam is the place where Mahakavi Bharathiyar stayed during his visit to Varanasi in 1900s. #KashiTamilSangamam.”
The caption for Sitharaman’s Instagram video is, “Visited Siva Madam in Varanasi yesterday and interacted with the family members of Mahakavi Bharathiyar, including his 96-year-old great nephew Shri K. V. Krishnan. #KashiTamilSangamam.”
View this post on Instagram
The caption for Sitharaman’s X post is, “Smt @nsitharaman visits Siva Madam in Varanasi and interacts with the family members of Mahakavi Bharathiyar, including his 96-year-old great nephew Shri K. V. Krishnan. #KashiTamilSangamam.”
Smt @nsitharaman visits Siva Madam in Varanasi and interacts with the family members of Mahakavi Bharathiyar, including his 96-year-old great nephew Shri K. V. Krishnan. #KashiTamilSangamam pic.twitter.com/sdb1sR1Tfs
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) December 3, 2022
Mahakavi Bharathiyar, officially Subramania Bharati, “was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu. He was known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar and the laudatory epithet Mahakavi means a great poet. He is considered as one of India’s greatest poets,” according to the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of India.
The individual she’s seen interacting with in the viral video is Shri K. V. Krishnan, the 96-year-old great nephew of Bharathiyar.
The names of Sitharaman’s father and mother, as per the Indian Department of Financial Services, are Shri Narayanan Sitharaman and Shrimati Savitri, respectively. Both can be seen in reports here and here, as well as in a video here, showing when the finance minister made her first budget speech in the Indian Parliament’s lower house, the Lok Sabha.
Soch Fact Check concludes that the video shows Sitharaman meeting Bharathiyar’s great nephew, Shri K. V. Krishnan, and not her father. The comparison between her lifestyle with Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar, therefore, is misleading as the video does not show Sitharaman’s home or represent her lifestyle.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the video with the false claim shared here and here on Facebook. It was also shared here on X.
Conclusion: A viral video actually shows India’s Finance Minister Sitharaman meeting the Indian poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s great nephew, Shri K. V. Krishnan, and not her father. Therefore, the comparison with Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar is misleading as the video does not show Sitharaman’s ancestral home or lifestyle.
Background image in cover photo: IshaqDarofficial & nirmala.sitharaman
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