By Srijit Das
A video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is viral with a false claim that it captures Gandhi's visit to the Ram temple in Ayodhya following his nomination filing from Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli for the Lok Sabha elections.
BOOM found that the video is old and from Jharkhand's Deoghar district. The footage shows Gandhi's visit to the Baba Baidyanath Dham temple as part of his nationwide Bharat Jodo Nyay rally on February 3, 2024.
In the 57-second video clip, the Congress leader can be seen coming out of a temple, while in the background, a group of people can be heard chanting slogans in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The video is being shared with a caption, "Rahul Gandhi the *SHAMELESS* visits Ayodhya after filing his candidature from Rae Bareli. Crowds greet him vociferously chanting Modi, Modi.... Listen".
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Another X user posted the video and wrote, "Rahul Gandhi became Brahmin again after filing nominations in Raebareli today and went to Ayodhya! People welcomed him with Jai Sree Ram and Modi Modi chants..."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on one of the keyframes from the viral video and found several news reports from February 3, 2024, carrying visuals of Gandhi coming out of a temple during his Bharat Jodo Nyay rally.
One such X post by news agency ANI states, "Slogans including "Narendra Modi Zindabad", "Rahul Gandhi Zindabad" raised by some people during Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's visit to Baba Baidyanath Dham temple, in Deoghar, Jharkhand."
Click here to view the post.
Additionally, we came across news reports various other media outlets, such as News 18 and Punjab Kesari, who carried similar footages of Gandhi at that time. The outlets reported that the videos show the Congress leader being greeted with 'Modi-Modi' chants upon exiting the temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand.
On May 3, 2024, ANI reported that Gandhi filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli for the current Lok Sabha Election. The visuals can be seen below.
Click here to view the post.
Moreover, we were unable to find any credible news reports or posts from Gandhi's official social media profiles confirming that the Congress leader visited the Ayodhya Ram temple after filing his nomination from Raebareli for the Lok Sabha elections.
According to news reports from January 10, 2024, the Congress announced its decision to abstain from the grand inauguration ceremony scheduled for the Ayodhya Ram Temple. The party had then referred to the Ayodhya Ram temple as a "political project" of the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
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