Fact Check: Old video of Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat temple falsely linked to Janmashtami celebrations
A February 2022 video of Rahul Gandhi at Dwarkadhish Temple is being falsely shared as a recent clip from Janmashtami celebrations.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 27 Aug 2024 12:36 PM GMT
Claim: The video shows Rahul Gandhi participating in Krishna Janmashtami celebrations.
Fact: The claim is false. The video is from February 2022 and it does not show Janmashtami celebrations.
Hyderabad: During the recent Krishna Janmashtami celebrations, a video went viral on social media claiming to show Congress leader Rahul Gandhi participating in the celebrations.
An X user shared the video with the caption, āHappy Janmashtami from LoP Rahul Gandhi Jiā¦ā (Archive)
The 27-second clip featured Gandhi with other Congress leaders inside a temple chanting Lord Krishnaās names.
Similar posts can be seen here, here and here. (Archive) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The video is old and does not show Janmashtami celebrations.
A reverse image search led us to an X post containing the same video shared by Lutyens Media on August 19, 2022, with the caption āFormer Congress president Rahul Gandhi wishes people a Happy Janmashtami!! #Janmashtamiā
This indicated that the video was old.
A keyword search led us to an NDTV report published on February 26, 2022, titled āIn Gujarat For Congress Strategy Meet, Rahul Gandhi Visits A Temple.ā
The report stated that Gandhi visited the Dwarkadhish temple upon his arrival in Gujarat for a Congress strategy meeting. The report included a screenshot from the viral video, indicating that it was taken during this visit. The report mentioned that Gandhi offered prayers at the Dwarkadhish temple, participated in a religious ritual and was welcomed with traditional folk dance.
There is no mention that the Congress leader visited the temple to celebrate Janmashtami.
Additionally, we found a video report by ANI News, uploaded to their YouTube channel on February 26, 2022, with the title āGujarat: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visits Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka.ā
The videoās caption read, āCongress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka, Gujarat on February 26. He offered prayers and sought the blessings. Rahul Gandhi also addressed the Chintan Shivir in Dwarka during his visit.ā
Moreover, Krishna Janmashtami was celebrated on August 18-19 in 2022, several months after Gandhiās temple visit, disproving the claim that the video was related to Janmashtami celebrations.
Hence, the claim that the video shows Rahul Gandhi celebrating Krishna Janmashtami is false. The footage is from February 2022 during his visit to the Dwarkadhish temple in Gujarat and has no connection to Krishna Janmashtami celebrations.
