Picture shows George Soros with his wife, not former Indian leader's daughter
An old picture of George Soros with his wife Tamiko Bolton's arm around him resurfaced in social media posts that misidentified her as one of the daughters of India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh. The false posts suggested the picture was proof Singh's opposition Congress party received election funding from the billionaire philanthropist, a claim the party has denied.
The image was shared on Facebook on June 25, 2024.
It contained a Hindi-language text overlay that read: "The daughter of former prime minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress Party Government of India, in an objectionable situation with George Soros, who is working against Narendra Modi in India, has Manmohan Singh's daughter stooped so low in her anti-national activities, it is a matter worth thinking about."
Singh was prime minister of India from 2004 until 2014 when his Congress party was thrashed in the polls by Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The post's caption further went on to say: "George Soros, who spent money like water to defeat the Modi government. Who prepared him for this, what is this relationship called?"
Congress defied analysts' expectations and exit polls to nearly double its parliamentary numbers in India's election in 2024, its best result since Modi swept to power.
Modi's BJP won only 240 seats in this year's poll, its worst showing in a decade, and 32 seats below a majority which forced it to rely on coalition allies to govern.
The image was also shared with similar claims on Facebook and on social media site X.
Mistaken identity
Congress, however, has said allegations linking the party to Soros, who has criticised Modi prior to the elections are "patently false" and "malicious".
In a post on X on April 2 before the weeks-long voting began, the party's secretary general for communications Jairam Ramesh said they lodged a complaint against the BJP with the India's electoral body over the allegations (archived link).
Moreover, reverse image searches on Google found the circulating picture actually shows Soros with his wife and not former leader Singh's daughter as the posts alleged.
The New York Times published the picture in an August 12, 2012 article about Soros and Bolton announcing their engagement (archived link).
"George Soros and his fiancee, Tamiko Bolton," its caption read.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture shared in the false posts (left) and the one published by the New York Times (right):
Reuters news agency also reported on Soros and Bolton's engagement at the time. The report included a similar picture of the couple as shown below:
The couple wed in September 2013, with a picture from the ceremony distributed by AFP.
Former Indian premier Singh has three daughters, according to his profile on the official website of India's prime minister. Photos published by local media The Indian Express show they bore no resemblance to Bolton (archived links here and here).
Soros has long funded projects promoting transparency and democracy, making him the subject of countless conspiracy theories and politically motivated attacks.
AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation about him.
