On 17 August 2025, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, began the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Sasaram, Bihar, a 16-day march covering over 1,300 km across more than 20 districts of the state. The march comes against the backdrop of the Congress’s accusations of “vote chori” against the ECI and the INDIA Bloc’s opposition to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. The campaign will conclude with a rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on 01 September 2025 (here, here, and here).
In this context, a video showing a massive crowd on a road is being shared on social media (here, here, and here), claiming to show a large turnout for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows a large crowd that turned out for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar.
Fact: This viral video is unrelated to Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar. It actually shows the palanquin procession of Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj in Khamgaon, Buldhana district, Maharashtra, in July 2025. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of key frames from the viral video led us to an Instagram post by ‘divyavarhad_’, dated 02 August 2025, featuring the same video. The description reads, “Gajanan Maharaj’s palanquin left Khamgaon city towards Shegaon.” This confirms that the video predates the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which began on 17 August 2025, and is unrelated to the event.
The bio of this Instagram page mentions that it is linked to a media organization and also provided a YouTube link. On this YouTube channel, a longer version of the video containing scenes from the viral video was uploaded on 31 July 2025. Its description reads, “Lakhs of devotees march with the palanquin, the palanquin of Shrivari returns home.. Video of the palanquin taken by a drone camera between Khamgaon and Shegaon.” Based on this, it is clear that the video shows the palanquin procession of Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj between Khamgaon and Shegaon in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, in July 2025.
An article in ‘ABP Majha’ dated 30 July 2025 states that the palanquin procession begins in Shegaon, proceeds to Khamgaon, and returns to Shegaon the following day.
To sum up, an unrelated video of a palanquin procession in Maharashtra is shared falsely linking it to the 2025 ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar.
