A video of a false claim about building a mosque instead of a temple went viral on social media, claiming that a vote call was made in the name of Rahul Gandhi.
Facts originally verified by PTI: A video calling for voting in the name of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is going viral on social media. This video released on behalf of the Wayanad Congress also shows the demolition of the Ayodhya temple and the construction of a mosque in its place. Users claim that the Congress used this video in its campaign to vote for Priyanka Gandhi in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
You may know that after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi, the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala fell vacant, voting for the by-election was held on November 13, 2024. Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has opposite Wayanad seat.
During the investigation, the viral claim was proven to be false. This video has not been published by Congress. Even before this, this video had gone viral during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Say
While sharing a video on social media platform ‘Facebook’ on November 13, a user named ‘Pawan Choudhary Jagiwada’ wrote, “Look what kind of announcement Congress has made to vote for Priyanka Gandhi in her Wayanad Lok Sabha seat . It’s a shame. “The Congress mentality is coming… ,
This video released on behalf of the Wayanad Congress also shows the demolition of the Ayodhya temple and the construction of a mosque in its place. Users claim that the Congress used this video in its campaign to vote for Priyanka Gandhi in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. See post link, file link and screenshot here.
Screenshot of a viral post
Also, watch this video with a similar claim by clicking here, here, here and here.
investigation
To confirm the claim, the office first searched all the big leaders and official names of Congress, but during this time we did not find any video that was similar to the viral video. Continuing our investigation, we did a reverse image search of the viral video’s keyframes. During this time, we came across a post by Kerala Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal Jain on We (Congress Party) have filed a complaint against the BJP for spreading a fake video of Rahul Gandhi on social media. We will not tolerate false narratives. The BJP is now resorting to more videos. false.” In his post, the Kerala Congress spokesperson further shared some handles that have circulated fake videos on Twitter. See the link and screenshot of the post here.
Screenshot of Lavanya Ballal Jain’s post
Apart from this, Lavanya Ballal Jain tagged the Kerala Police and the state police chief in her X post and shared the screen recording of the X user who shared the video. He had also shared a letter complaining to the police in the comment of his post. See the link and screenshot of the post here.
Screenshot of a complaint letter to the police shared by the spokesperson
At the end of the investigation, the office contacted Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan, who was also in charge of Congress’ election campaign in Kalpetta assembly constituency of Wayanad Lok Sabha seat during the by-elections. . Rajmohan Unnithan said, “Congress has no role in this. We have not made any such video. This could be right-wing propaganda.”
PTI Fact Check Desk investigated and found that the viral post was fake. The video of the demolition of the Ayodhya temple and the construction of a mosque in its place went viral once during the Lok Sabha elections. The Wayanad Congress Committee lodged a complaint with the police regarding this video in April 2024. The Wayanad Congress Committee termed the video as fake and demanded action against those who made it and spread false propaganda by sharing it. In the recent viral video, the Congress Party says that the party has no role in it and this video is completely baseless.
Say
The video of the call to vote in the name of Rahul Gandhi also shows the demolition of the Ayodhya temple and the construction of a mosque in its place. This video was used in the campaign to vote for Priyanka Gandhi in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.
conclusion
During the investigation, it was discovered that the viral post was fake. The video of the demolition of the Ayodhya temple and the construction of a mosque in its place went viral once during the Lok Sabha elections. The Wayanad Congress Committee lodged a complaint with the police regarding this video in April 2024. The Wayanad Congress Committee termed the video as fake and demanded action against those who made it and spread false propaganda by sharing it. In the recent viral video, the Congress Party says that the party has no role in it and this video is completely baseless.
(Disclaimer: This fact check was originally conducted by PTI, republished by India TV with the help of Shakti Collective)
