Fact Check: Rahul Gandhi insults Mallikarjun Kharge during party office’s inauguration? No, viral video is clipped
A video has gone viral claiming Rahul Gandhi insulted the Congress president during the inauguration event of the Congress party’s new headquarters.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 19 Jan 2025 2:06 PM IST
Claim: The video shows Rahul Gandhi insulting Mallikarjun Kharge during the inauguration of the Congress party’s news headquarters by forcing him to vacate his chair beside Sonia Gandhi.
Fact: The claim is false. The extended version of the video shows Rahul assisting Kharge with the chair, not insulting him.
Hyderabad: The Congress inaugurated its new headquarters, Indira Bhavan at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi on January 17, marking a historic transition after operating from its iconic 24, Akbar Road office, for 47 years.
Amid this backdrop, a video from the inauguration has been circulating on social media, showing the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi moving the chair of Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Social media users are sharing the video with the claim that Kharge, while seated beside Sonia Gandhi, was insulted by Rahul Gandhi, who allegedly asked him to vacate the chair.
A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Kharge insulted.” (Translated from Tamil)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the video was clipped. The extended version shows Rahul Gandhi assisting Mallikarjun Kharge to reach the podium after he was invited to speak.
A reverse image search of the keyframes of the viral clip led us to a video live-streamed on the official YouTube channel of the Congress party on January 15, titled ‘Inauguration of Indira Bhawan, the new AICC HQ.’
The video showed Rajya Sabha MP and national treasurer of the Congress party, Ajay Maken, inviting Rahul Gandhi to speak during the event at the 28-minute mark, with Rahul finishing his speech at the 46:06-minute mark.
Maken then returns to the podium and invites Mallikarjun Kharge to speak. At exactly 46:45 minutes, the viral clip appears, showing Rahul assisting Kharge with his chair to help the leader get up for his speech. The extended version clearly showed Rahul offering assistance to Kharge out of courtesy, not insulting him.
We also found a video of the event live-streamed on the official YouTube channel of Priyanka Gandhi on January 15. This video, too, shows the same sequence after the 45:04-minute mark, where Rahul was seen assisting Kharge with his chair.
Therefore, we conclude that the viral video is clipped and the claim that Rahul Gandhi insulted Mallikarjun Kharge by unseating him from his chair is false.
