Fact Check: Is CPI leader Annie Raja campaigning for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli?

Those sharing the photo claim that Annie Raja who is Rahul Gandhi’s opponent in Wayanad, is now campaigning for the Congress leader in Raebareli.

“Annie Raja, who contested against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, is campaigning for him, in Raebareli from today. No sense of shame, (translated from Malayalam)” wrote a Facebook user who shared the photo. (Archive)

Another Facebook user shared the same claim and photo mocking the communist party. The text on the post reads “Annie Raja, who contested against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, will campaign for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli from today. Has communism reached such a pathetic state? (translated from Malayalam)”.

A similar post can be seen here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as no information was found about Annie Raja being involved in Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in Raebareli.

We also spoke to Annie Raja over the phone who rejected the claims that she is campaigning for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli.

A search for news reports of Annie Raja campaigning for Rahul Gandhi yielded no results. However, we found multiple media reports in which Annie Raja was quoted criticising Rahul Gandhi after the latter filed his nomination papers in Raebareli.

Rahul Gandhi has also filed his nomination papers from Wayanad for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

We found an Economic Times article with the title ‘Injustice to voters of Wayanad: CPI’s Annie Raja on Rahul Gandhi’s Raebareli candidature’ published on May 6, 2024. The report quotes Annie Raja as saying, Rahul Gandhi’s nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli amounts to an ‘injustice to voters of Wayanad.’

We also found a similar report by The Indian Express titled ‘Rae Bareli discussions started much earlier, he hid it till Kerala polling ended: Rahul’s Wayanad opponent Annie Raja’.

The report quotes Annie Raja’s position against Rahul Gandhi’s nomination from Raebareli as follows: “Although Rahul’s decision to contest from Rae Bareli was announced on Friday, the discussions to that effect had begun much earlier. By hiding that decision till the Wayanad polling is over, Rahul has done injustice to the people of the constituency.”

Annie Raja provides evidence

When NewsMeter contacted Annie Raja over the phone, she refuted the claims that she campaigned for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli.

She also said that the ‘people who are incapable of addressing ideological questions are behind propagating such news.’ This is Sangh propaganda without any basis; it is meaningless, and a testament that they are ideologically and politically poor, she added.

Additionally, she shared her boarding pass and tickets to prove that she was not in Raebareli on the alleged dates.

Hence, we conclude that Annie Raja did not campaign for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli. The claim is false.