| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Did Rahul Gandhi not visit a single temple in TN and Kerala? Viral claims are only half-true
There are no records of Rahul Gandhi visiting Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, he did visit several in Kerala during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
While there are no records of Rahul Gandhi visiting Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, he did visit several in Kerala during the Yatra.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra that began on September 7 from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari has passed through more than 40 districts in eight states as of December 9. The Yatra has received a lot of attention on both, news channels and social media. However, there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding it as well.
Recently, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Information and Technology Department head Amit Malviya took a dig at Gandhi and the Yatra. Following the Congress leader’s visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain last month, Malviya wrote on Twitter, “Rahul Gandhi, son of a Catholic mother and a Parsi father, should stop this fancy dress drama in Hindi heartland. When in Kerala or TN, he never bothered to visit a single Hindu temple. Visited minority religious places though. His beliefs change depending on electoral maths.”
Malviya’s tweet was widely shared, with its screenshots being circulated on other social media platforms as well. Many such posts can be seen archived here, here, and here. AFWA’s investigations, however, found this claim misleading. While Rahul Gandhi visited no Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, he did visit temples in Kerala as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
AFWA Probe
The Yatra began on September 7 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. On the same day, Gandhi paid homage at the Vivekananda Memorial in the city. The official Twitter account of the Congress party also shared a video from there. However, we could not find any record of Gandhi visiting Hindu temples in the state during the Yatra at all.
On September 10, the Yatra entered Kerala. Gandhi visited the Kannammoola Chattambi Swami temple in Thiruvananthapuram on September 12.
Gandhi also met with Swamis of Sivagiri Mutt on September 14 at Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram. Sivagiri Mutt is the shrine of Sree Narayana Guru, a social reformer who led a movement against the inequalities of the caste system.
He then paid a visit to the Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram in Vallikkavu, Kollam on September 16.
On September 20, Gandhi visited the 1300-year-old Thuravoor Mahakshethram temple in Cherthala, Alappuzha. Among the artists performing Chenda Melam was Padma Shri awardee Peruvanam Kuttan Marar.
Aside from these visits, Gandhi also met with pastor George Ponnaiah at the Muttidichan Parai Church, Puliyoorkurichy in Tamil Nadu. When he met, Archbishop Thomas J Netto, Father Ujin Periera, and Pushpam Simon, Gandhi discussed the adverse living, working and economic conditions of fishermen in Thiruvananthapuram. He also visited the Parambayam Jum’a Masjid in Aluva, Ernakulam, and the St. Francis Xavier’s Forane Church in Wadakkanchery, Thrissur.
Hence it is clear that such assertions are misleading. While we could not find evidence of Rahul Gandhi visiting any Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, he did visit several in Kerala.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)