A viral video showing empty seats and people leaving an event is doing rounds on social media. Flags of the Indian National Congress can also be seen all around the event venue. Many users are sharing the video claiming that the video is from Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Karnataka and people did not turn up to support Rahul Gandhi.
A Facebook user posted the viral image with a Malayalam caption:
കേരളത്തിൽ ബംഗാളികളെ കിട്ടുമായിരുന്ന് പക്ഷേ കർണ്ണാടകയിൽ ചെന്നപ്പോൾ അതും ഇല്ല പക്ഷേ പ്രസംഗംഒന്ന് കേൾക്കണം അതാണ് രസം
(English Translation: We could have got Bengalis in Kerala, but when we went to Karnataka, that too was not there. But we have to listen to the speech, that’s the fun. )
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found the claims to be misleading.
A Reverse Image Search of the video keyframes landed us on a tweet by Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT Cell in-charge, dated February 15, 2022. Keyframes of the video in the tweet match exactly with the viral video, and the tweet suggests that the video is from one of Rahul Gandhi’s rallies in Punjab during state elections.
Searching further, we came across a news report on YouTube, titled: पंजाब में राहुल गांधी दे रहे थे भाषण, तभी सारी जनता कुर्सियां छोड़कर भाग निकली।, published on February 15, 2022, on the verified channel of an Indian online news network – VK News. The news report contains clips similar to the viral video stating that people did not turn out for Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Hoshiarpur. A similar news report can be seen on the verified YouTube channel of The News.
Finally, to know more about the event and the reason behind the low turnout, we conducted a Google Keyword Search. Our search led us to a YouTube video published on February 14, 2022, on the official channel of News18 Punjab/Haryana/Himachal. The video titled: Rahul Gandhi ਦੀ ਰੈਲੀ ‘ਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਸਕਣਗੇ CM Channi | PM MODI | Live News | News18 Punjab informs us that ex-CM of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi was denied permission to fly because of security reasons since PM Modi was also visiting Punjab for his rally. Hence, Channi could not attend Congress’ rally in Hoshiarpur and the delay led to supporters leaving the event.
Therefore, based on our investigation, we can conclusively say that the viral video, claiming that people did not turn up for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ event in Karnataka, is misleading.
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