Fact Check: Video showing Rahul Gandhi with a claim that he refused to accept a Hindu idol offered to him is TRIMMED

As part of the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed public in Nashik, Maharastra. A video is being shared on social media with the claim that during the felicitation, Rahul refused to accept an idol of Lord Vitthal presented by one of his party workers.

This is an insult to not just the Warkaris but millions of Hindu devotees, who revere the Lord. With this claim, social media users and the media cell of a national party shared the video on their X account.

Fact Check: 

On searching with the help of Google Reverse Image search, we found the video shared on Rahul Gandhi’s official YouTube channel on March 14, 2024 during the live stream of the event. We found at exactly 17:15 timestamp, Rahul holding the idol and posing for the photographers.

After conducting a Google reverse image search, we found the video in a post by Nana Patole, the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, on March 14, 2024 in his X account.

He also mentioned in his post: “See Gandhi can clearly be seen accepting the idol offered by the same man in the saffron kurta, along with another man in a white shirt”.

Rahul is a direct target of an IT cell of a political party, which is sharing the edited version of the clip.

Siddharth Routray, known as the Odia Ironman & a senior Congress leader, posted both the images. In the first image, Rahul is seen receiving the idol & another with the false claim. He also mentioned in his post: “Be aware of the fake news spread by godi media. Rahul falsely trolled for respecting Bhagwan Vitthal”.

According to a report published in News App Inshort “ Rahul Gandhi with lord Vitthal idol video misrepresented ”.

If you observe the viral video keenly, you can find Rahul Gandhi received the idol of the Hindu deity and also posed for the shutterbugs. Hence, the claim is False. The viral video is trimmed.