A post accompanying a video showing a felicitation ceremony of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, here) with the claim that the video depicts Rahul Gandhi refusing to accept the idol of the Hindu God Lord Vitthal in Nashik, Maharashtra. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video depicting Rahul Gandhi refusing to accept the idol of Lord Vitthal, which was presented by a Congress party worker during a meeting in Nasik, Maharashtra.
Fact: This video is from a farmer meeting conducted in Nashik, Maharashtra, during Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’ on 14 March 2024. The original video of this meeting has been edited between timestamps 16:46 to 17:17 and shared with a false narrative. In the longer version of the video, we can clearly see Gandhi accepting the idol that was presented to him and also posing with it for a photograph on stage. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we conducted a Google reverse image search using key frames from the viral video. This search led us to the full version of the viral video, which was uploaded on Rahul Gandhi’s official YouTube channel on 14 March 2024, titled: “Farmers Meeting | Nashik | Maharashtra | Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”. According to news reports, on 14 March 2024, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra reached Nashik, Maharashtra. There, he, along with other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance leaders, including Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party and Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, addressed a farmers’ meeting at Krushi Utpanna Bazar Samiti.
Upon reviewing the entire video, we discovered that the viral clip begins at the timestamp 16:46 and concludes at 17:17. In the footage, an individual is seen wrapping a turban around Rahul Gandhi’s head. During this moment, another person attempts to present the idol to Rahul Gandhi but is halted twice by the individual wrapping the turban. Additionally, Gandhi and his associates can be observed gesturing to the party worker to step aside while Gandhi is being garlanded and photographed with others. Subsequently, Rahul Gandhi removes the turban and the garland, accepts the idol, poses for a photograph with the presenter, and then passes it on. This makes it evident that Rahul Gandhi did not refuse to accept the Hindu God Vitthal Idol.
We additionally discovered a video of the entire event shared by OneIndia News on 14 March 2024. The pertinent section can be found between the timestamp 13:00 and 14:30. Subsequently, we also found that this viral video was shared by several BJP official Twitter handles and BJP leaders with the same claim. In this context, refuting such claims, the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Nana Patole, posted a video on X (archive) on 14 March 2024. In this video, Rahul Gandhi can be seen accepting the idol and posing with it for a photograph. From all of this, it is evident that Rahul Gandhi did not refuse to accept the Hindu God Vitthal Idol. The video was edited to exclude the part where Rahul Gandhi accepted the idol and is being shared with a false narrative.
To sum it up, a clipped video is being falsely shared, portraying Rahul Gandhi as refusing to accept the idol of Lord Vitthal.
