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| - Fact Check: Rahul Gandhi didn't refuse Lord Vitthal's idol, viral video is clipped
India Today found that Rahul Gandhi did accept the idol at the event just moments later.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a clipped video circulating. In the full-length video and photographs, Gandhi can be seen accepting the idol.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed the Kisan Mahapanchayat in Nashik, Maharashtra, as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut were also in attendance.
A video now going viral allegedly shows Gandhi refusing to accept a Lord Vitthal idol presented by one of his party workers. Lord Vitthal is a revered local deity in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Amit Malviya and the BJP’s official Maharashtra account shared the video on X. Malviya wrote, "Rahul Gandhi refuses to accept idol of Bhagwan Vitthal on stage. This is an insult to not just the Warkaris but millions of Hindu devotees, who revere the Lord. From DMK to the Congress, Hindu hate is what binds the I.N.D.I Alliance. Rahul Gandhi suffers from Hindumisia."
Many others shared the clip with the same accusation.
India Today Fact Check found that the video was clipped. In the full clip, Gandhi can be seen accepting the idol from a supporter on that dias and was also photographed while doing so.
Our Probe
Upon reverse-searching keyframes of the viral video, we found a video posted on X on March 14 by the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Nana Patole. In this video, Rahul Gandhi can be seen accepting the idol and posing with it for a photograph.
Patole, while sharing the video, alleged that BJP members were sharing the viral clip alongside falsehoods.
In the video, Gandhi and his associates could be seen gesturing at the party worker to step aside while he was being photographed with someone else. Later, Gandhi accepted the idol, posed for a photograph with the presenter, and then passed it on.
Many Congress leaders issued similar rebuttals to Amit Malviya's post on X.
We also found a video of the entire event shared by Oneindia News on March 14. The relevant section appears between the 13-minute and 14-minute-30-second mark. The sequence of events that happened is as follows.
First, someone wrapped a turban around Rahul Gandhi’s head. At the time, the person with the idol tried to present it to him but was stopped twice by others on the stage as people garlanded Gandhi. Then the Congress leader removed the turban and the garlands and accepted the idol.
Thus, it’s clear that the viral video was clipped to give it a false spin.
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