Fact-Check: Misleading claim about only Sonia Gandhi meeting WC-winning team in 2007 viral
New Delhi: A photo of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi posing with the 2007 Indian cricket World Cup winning team has gone viral on social media, sparking controversy. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared the image, claiming that Gandhi met the team despite not being the Prime Minister, suggesting she did so due to 'her privilege'. The insinuation was that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not get the opportunity to meet the team.
The Truth: This claim is misleading. Archival photos and reports confirm that the winning team also met with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 30, 2007.
Investigation:
1. Reverse Image Search: Conducting a reverse image search on the viral photo led to the same image on Getty Images. The description revealed that Sonia Gandhi, then Chairperson of India's UPA Government and Congress Party president, posed with the Indian cricket team at her residence in New Delhi on October 30, 2007.
2. Further Evidence: A similar Getty Images photo showed that the 2007 T20 Cricket World Cup winners also met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil.
3. Keyword Search: Using the keywords 'Manmohan Singh meets cricket team 2007 world cup' on Google led to a Times of India report published on October 31, 2007. This report included images of the team with Singh and noted that he was accompanied by Ambika Soni, Prithviraj Chavan, and Rajeev Shukla, among others.
4. Additional Images: Further images from October 30, 2007, were found in the PMO archives, showing Singh with the 2007 T20 Cricket World Cup winners.
Conclusion: The claim that only Sonia Gandhi met with the Indian cricket World Cup team in 2007 is misleading. The team also met with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, confirming that both leaders had interactions with the players.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
