Fact Check: Priyanka Gandhi wears Christian cross in Kerala to woo voters? No, viral image is edited

Hyderabad: After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opted to retain his Raebareli Lok Sabha seat and vacated Wayanad, his sister and UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi has been campaigning for the Wayanad by-poll scheduled for November 13. Priyanka’s roadshow in Wayanad on November 11 attracted a massive crowd, marking the culmination of her electoral campaign.

In this context, a collage of two images featuring Priyanka Gandhi has been circulating on social media. One image shows her wearing a rudraksha, while the other shows her wearing a Christian cross. The accompanying claim suggests that Priyanka wore a rudraksha in Kashi and a cross in Kerala to appeal to different religious communities.

A user on X claimed that the alleged switching of religious symbols reflects how the Gandhi family seeks to ‘fool’ Hindus, captioning the post: “How to fool Hindus? Look here.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. Although the picture of her wearing a rudraksha is real, the image of Priyanka sporting a Christian cross is edited.

Here’s a breakdown of the analysis for each image.

Image with a Christian cross

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found the image published by the stock website Getty Images on February 17, 2017. The image showed Priyanka wearing an oval-shaped pendant, not a Christian cross.

According to the website, the image was captured while Priyanka was participating in a rally to support Congress candidates during the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly Elections in Rae Bareli on February 17, 2017.

We also found the image published by HuffPost in 2019 and National Herald in 2021. These also do not show her wearing a Christian cross.

Here is the comparison of original and edited images.

The edited image has circulated for several years, and in 2020, NewsMeter debunked it.

Image with a rudraksha

A reverse image search led us to a video report published by India TV on March 20, 2019, titled, ‘India TV Exclusive show on Priyanka Gandhi's Ganga yatra.’ The video shows Priyanka wearing a similar saree and sporting a rudraksha.

Though we did not find an identical image that matched the viral photo, we found Priyanka wearing similar sarees and sporting the rudraksha on several occasions.

Hence, we conclude that the image of Priyanka wearing a cross is edited and the claim is false.