Hall rented for press meet was 'misused' for ‘Modi Chalisa’ event: Press Club

A group of people performed an aarti in front of a statue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and recited the ‘Modi Chalisa’ at the Press Club of India premises in Central Delhi on Thursday, prompting the club to clarify that it had not sanctioned or organised the event.

Videos and photographs of the gathering circulated on social media, showing participants chanting “Jai-Jai Modi” during the programme.

The Press Club of India said the hall where the event was held had been hired by an organisation for a press conference. It said the organisation subsequently violated the terms under which the premises had been rented.

“The Press Club of India has noticed that a photo/video of an event held at its premises earlier today, is circulating on social media. It is hereby clarified that the Club had not organised the event,” the club said in a post on X.

“The hall was hired for the purpose of holding a press conference by an organization but when terms for renting out the place were violated by it, the Club authorities immediately intervened and it was stopped,” it added.

The clarification came after the videos of the event drew attention on social media.

According to the club, the programme was therefore not an event organised by or endorsed by the Press Club of India. The organisation that had hired the hall had been permitted to use the premises for a press conference, rather than the religious and political programme shown in the videos.