'It's fake! I categorically deny it': Nobel deputy leader on reports of PM Modi being top contender for Peace Prize

Asle Toje, the Deputy leader of the Nobel Prize Committee, is on the visit to India and is already making headlines in the country.

𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗷𝗲'𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀

On Thursday morning, several news agencies and websites carried Toje's quote, in which he reportedly said that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

These reports also claimed that Toje called PM Modi “most reliable face of peace in the world,” and hailed his governance. The reports went on to claim that Toje said India is becoming a rich and powerful country because of PM Modi’s policies.

𝗧𝗼𝗷𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 '𝗳𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀'

However, within few hours of such reports doing rounds on the internet, the Deputy leader of the prestigious prize committee had to issue a clarification.

In a byte given to news agency ANI, Asle Toje cleared air regarding the tweet doing rounds about PM Modi being the biggest contender for peace prize and said: "I am the deputy leader of the Nobel committee. A fake news tweet was sent out. And I think we should treat it as all fake news. It's fake! Let's not discuss it. Let's not give it energy or oxygen. I categorically deny that I said anything resembling what was in that tweet."

Earlier in the day, news channels had ran reports quoting Toje, who they claimed had endorsed PM Modi as the main contender for the prestigious prize. The reports also claimed that Toje had referred to PM Modi as the world's 'most trusted' and 'most reliable' leader. Toje, however, seems to have cleared the air around the claims in these reports by denying that he made any such statements.

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