Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visits the Ayodhya Ram temple after filing his nomination from Rae Bareli, where the crowd heckles him with “Modi, Modi” chants.
Fact
Video is from February 2024, when Gandhi offered prayers at the Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar, Jharkhand, during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
Several social media users are sharing a video, purportedly showing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Ayodhya Ram temple, where the crowd is heckling him with “Modi, Modi” chants. The users mocked Gandhi’s alleged visit, saying that he became a Brahmin after filing his nomination papers on May 3 from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, a constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the past two decades.
Meanwhile, ahead of the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi had on May 5 (Sunday) offered prayers at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, where he also held a roadshow with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath after performing aarti at the temple. This is PM Modi’s first visit to Ayodhya, which will be voting in the fifth phase on May 20, after the Ram Lalla idol’s consecration on January 22, 2024.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here. We also received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact Check
Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Rahul Gandhi Ayodhya temple”, which did not throw up any recent news reports about such a visit, raising our doubts.
We then ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Instagram reel, uploaded by the official account of BJP Gujarat on February 3, 2024, stating that “Modi-Modi slogans were raised in front of @rahulgandhi at Sanatan’s Dham Devghar, Baba Vaidyanath Dham.”
A comparison of screengrabs show that it is the same visit, which predates Gandhi’s filing of nomination papers on May 3.
A relevant keyword search led us to multiple news reports from February 3-4, 2024, seen here, here and here, on Gandhi offering prayers at the Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar in Jharkhand during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. “Rahul Gandhi visited the ancient temple in Deoghar dedicated to Lord Shiva, where he participated in prayers and rituals,” read an HT report, dated February 4, 2024.
“Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra reached Jharkhand on February 02. Dressed in Pink Dhoti and Sandalwood powdered forehead, Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at Baba Baidyanath Dham on Feb 03. As soon as Rahul Gandhi entered the famous jyotirlinga in Jharkhand’s Deoghar, loud sloganeering began. Public in large numbers raised ‘Rahul Gandhi Zindabad’ slogans, but suddenly it turned into ‘Modi-Modi’ chants,” read a Times of India report, dated February 3, 2024, which further confirms that the viral video is not of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Ayodhya after filing his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections from the Rae Bareli seat on Friday. Gandhi was reportedly accompanied by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and brother-in-law Robert Vadra as he filed his nomination papers, even as a large number of Congress workers, and those from other INDIA bloc partners, turned up at the district collectorate to cheer the Congress leader.
Conclusion
Viral video of Rahul Gandhi offering prayers at Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra falsely claimed as the Congress leader visiting Ayodhya after filing his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections.
Result: False
Sources
Instagram reel, BJP Gujarat, February 3, 2024
Times of India report, February 3, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
