Fact Check: Viral image of man tying coolie number 420 badge to Rahul Gandhi is doctored

Hyderabad: An image of Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi showing a man tying him coolie number 420 badge has taken the internet by storm.

The image was shared with the caption, “See the coolie number---so appropriate, `420’.”

In common parlance, the number 420 is referred to as Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. It is related to cheating, dishonesty, and fraud. In India, it is very common to call someone 'Char so bees' if he or she commits any kind of fraud.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false as the viral image is doctored.

We performed a reverse image search using the viral image and found the same image on the official Instagram handle of Rahul Gandhi. Here the porter badge was clearly seen as number 756 not 420.

Uploading a set of 10 images Rahul Gandhi captions, 'आज, दिल्लीकेआनंदविहारटर्मिनलपरवहांकामकरनेवालेकुलीभाईयोंसेमुलाकातकी।काफ़ीसमयसेमेरेमनमेंभीइच्छाथी, औरउन्होंनेभीबहुतप्यारसेबुलायाथा - औरभारतकेपरिश्रमीभाईयोंकीइच्छातोहरहालमेंपूरीहोनीचाहिए।‘

“Today, met the collie brothers working at Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi. I had a desire in my mind for a long time. Wishes of the hardworking brothers of India must be fulfilled,” reads its English translation.

Moving forward, we found a video with the same image as a thumbnail on Rahul Gandhi's Instagram handle. The video in alignment with Bharat Jodo Yatra, profoundly talks about the struggling lives of coolies at Anand Vihar railway station, Delhi. In the video Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could be seen discussing the issues and assuring a resolution.

Similar images were uploaded on his Facebook page as well.

Further search led us to a media report in Hindustan Times titled 'Rahul Gandhi visits Anand Vihar ISBT meets coolies and carries luggage' dated 21st September 2023.

The same report could be seen on the YouTube channel of Times of India as well. In the video, the porter’s badge number 756 can be seen at the timestamp of 0:35sec.

Hence, it is evident that the viral image is morphed to spread a false narrative.