Hyderabad: As the Congress is on the verge of winning the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, a screenshot of an Instagram story reportedly of Virat Kohli is doing the rounds with the claim that the cricketer congratulated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
A Twitter user shared the screenshot using the hashtag #KarnatakaElectionResults and claimed that Virat Kohli posted the story on Instagram. The screenshot also has an image of Rahul Gandhi.
(Source: Twitter/@ikpsgill1)
Another Twitter user shared a similar screenshot reportedly of Virat Kohliās Instagram story with the caption, āVirat Kohli latest Instagram story, congratulations Congress.ā Though the text in the screenshot talks about Congressās victory it has the image of former cricketer Gautam Gambhir.
(Source: Twitter/AkshatOM10)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that both screenshots have been morphed.
We checked Virat Kohliās Instagram page and did not find any such story on his account.
At the time of writing this article, we found two stories on his account. In the first story posted on 12 May, he congratulated Suryakumar Yadav for hitting his maiden IPL hundred against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
(Source: Instagram/Virat Kohli)
In the second story, which was posted on 13 May, Virat Kohli is promoting his lifestyle brand One8.
(Source: Instagram/Virat Kohli)
We also noticed that the viral screenshot has been morphed by superimposing Rahul Gandhiās image on the screenshot of the story in which Kohli congratulated Suryakumar Yadav.
Lastly, we ran a keyword search but did not find any report from credible media outlets about Virat Kohli congratulating Rahul Gandhi.
Hence, we conclude both the screenshot are morphed and the claim is false.