Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Sunday left red-faced after their leaders - Sanjay Singh and Y Satish Reddy, respectively - allegedly shared a 'misleading' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he is looking at the camera while President Ram Nath Kovind greets him.
The Parliament hosted a farewell to President Kovind on Saturday evening. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, PM Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and Members of Parliament - both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha - attended the farewell ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.
"Such an insult, very sorry Sir. These people are like this, your term is over, now they will not even look at you," tweeted AAP's Sanjay Singh while sharing the video.
ऐसा अपमान Very Sorry Sir
— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) July 24, 2022
ये लोग ऐसे ही हैं, आपका कार्यकाल ख़त्म अब आपकी तरफ़ देखेंगे भी नही। pic.twitter.com/xaGIOkuyDM
Joining him, TRS social media convener Y Satish Reddy also tweeted the video and attacked the PM Modi for disrespecting the outgoing President. "When ‘Photograph’ is more important than the outgoing ‘President’," he tweeted.
When ‘Photograph’ is more important than the outgoing ‘President’ 📸 @KTRTRS pic.twitter.com/27wQrhe2Gj
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) July 23, 2022
However, in the original video aired by Sansad TV, PM Modi could be seen greeting President Kovind with folded hands before he turns to face the camera inside the Central Hall of Parliament.
The two videos have now been marked "presented out of context" by Twitter.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, has hit out at the two opposition parties for sharing edited videos. BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya has called Sanjay Singh a "fake news peddler" as he shared the longer version of the video which shows PM Modi welcoming President Kovind with folded hands before all other leaders.
"Fake news peddler Sanjay Singh at it again. Whose (from Kejriwal to Sisodia) lies are caught every day, and habit of tolerating humiliation, how do you know the way people are respected," he tweeted.
Fake news peddler Sanjay Singh at it again.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 24, 2022
जिनके (केजरीवाल से ले कर सिसोदिया तक) झूठ हर रोज़ पकड़े जाते हो, और अपमान सहना आदत, उन्हें लोगों का सम्मान कैसे किया जाता है, क्या पता? https://t.co/ntGA3OU5wY pic.twitter.com/1nYaN2lfE4
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also attacked the AAP and the TRS, saying PM Modi had greeted President Kovind with folded hands at the Parliament.
"Sanjay Singh tweeted today in which he said that the outgoing president was insulted. There could not be anything more unfortunate than this. He posted an edited clip and levels allegations against the Prime Minister at such an event on which there should not be any politics," he said.
"The edited clip was shared. The Prime Minister had greeted President Kovind which could be seen in the full video. There are pictures in the public domain showing PM Modi greeting the President. Still, such an allegation was levelled. What was the intention?" he added.