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| - Fact Check: Rahul Gandhi seen with Chinese diplomat in Kathmandu pub? Baseless rumour spreads like wildfire
A video of Rahul Gandhi in a nightclub has gone viral on social media, with the claim that he was accompanied by Hou Yanqi, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal. India Today's Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
The video shows Rahul Gandhi at a Kathmandu pub. He was in Nepal attending a friend’s wedding. The pub’s management and local journalists confirmed to India Today that no Chinese envoy was present during his visit to the pub. The woman in the video was a friend of the bride.
A video of Rahul Gandhi in what looks like a nightclub dominated social media trends on May 3. But it wasn’t just Gandhi that became a talking point — many online speculated about who was the person he was seen talking to.
Many people shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the claim that the woman accompanying the Congress party leader was Hou Yanqi, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal.
Many expressed concerns about this, wondering why he met with a supposed Chinese envoy in a nightclub, and what they were talking about.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the woman in the video was a friend of the bride at the wedding that Rahul Gandhi was attending in Nepal. She was not a Chinese diplomat.
The viral posts are archived here and here.
AFWA Probe
The Congress party’s communication department head Randeep Surjewala told reporters that Gandhi visited Nepal to “participate in a private marriage function of a friend,” adding that the friend was a journalist.
As per news reports, the Congress leader was in Kathmandu to attend the wedding of his friend Sumnima Udas, CNN International’s Delhi-based correspondent. She is the daughter of Bhim Udas, a former Nepali envoy to Myanmar.
As per the Kathmandu Post, Sumnima Udas’s wedding to Nima Martin Sherpa took place on May 3. A reception is scheduled for May 5.
Who is the lady with Rahul Gandhi in the viral video?
News reports suggested that the nightclub seen in the video was Lord of The Drinks, a popular pub in Kathmandu.
India Today contacted the pub’s management in Kathmandu. Rabin Shrestha, the CEO of Lord of the Drinks, confirmed in a phone call that Gandhi visited the pub on May 2 along with five or six people. He also confirmed that no Chinese ambassador was present along with Gandhi during his visit.
“He [Rahul Gandhi] was here for one and half hours. It was his personal visit. Nobody from the Chinese embassy was present with him,” said Shrestha.
Upon inquiring about the identity of the lady seen with Gandhi in the viral video, he said that she was a friend of the bride who was also invited to the wedding ceremony. “Of course, she was not the Chinese ambassador,” added Shrestha.
Since it was a personal visit, Shrestha did not want to divulge any more details about the guests.
India Today also spoke to Anil Giri, a senior journalist with The Kathmandu Post over the phone regarding the identity of the woman in the video. “Rahul Gandhi was in the pub with the friends of the bride and groom. The lady is definitely not the Chinese envoy. She is a Nepali woman from the bride’s side,” said Giri.
India Today did not dig further into the identity of the woman seen with Rahul Gandhi so as to not violate their privacy.
At the same time, we contacted the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu over email to set the record straight. We will update our story accordingly if and when we receive a response.
Based on eyewitness accounts, however, it is clear that in the viral video, Rahul Gandhi was not seen partying with a Chinese envoy. He was talking to a friend of the bride at the wedding he was attending.
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You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
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