Fact Check: Did Saudi Arabia build a gold statue of PM Modi? Know the truth of the viral video on social media

What is being claimed?
Sharing the viral video on Instagram, a user wrote, 'Statues of people are made from wax, but in Saudi Arabia (Muslim country) a gold statue of Modi has been made and installed and the traitors here are getting irritated.'

Even before this, some users had made it viral by saying that it is from Saudi Arabia.

How was the viral video investigated?
To investigate the viral video, we searched the keywords related to the video on Google, which led us to several media reports in which this golden statue was said to be from Surat, Gujarat.

A video dated January 20, 2023 was found on the Amar Ujala website Report According to the report, Surat jeweler Basant Bohra has made a gold statue of Prime Minister Modi to celebrate BJP's one-sided victory in Gujarat. The report also states that this statue weighing 156 grams has been prepared by about 20 artisans in three months. The viral video can also be seen in the report.

In fact, in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, BJP won 156 out of 182 seats, in this happiness, the Surat businessman has kept the weight of this statue of PM Modi to 156 grams.

21 January 2023 ABP News The report also said that Surat jeweler Basant Bohra has made the gold statue of the Prime Minister. He is the owner of a jewellery company called Radhika Chains. According to this report, Basant Bohra is a fan of Prime Minister Modi and he has made this statue in honour of Prime Minister Modi. In this report, the cost of the statue has been stated to be Rs 11 lakh.

Presswire18 Times Report According to the news portal, the viral video is from the 'Bombay Gold Exhibition', where this statue of PM Modi made of 156 grams of gold was unveiled.

News 18 Youtube channel But in this context, an interview of Jauhari can also be seen. In this interview given on 21 January 2023, he has told the whole story behind this statue.

conclusion
It is clear from all the media reports that the claim being made with the viral video is false. This gold statue was not made in Saudi Arabia but by a businessman from Surat. Also, this video is old and has no connection with the Lok Sabha elections.

(This story was originally published by BoomAnd republished by NBT as part of Shakti Collective.)