Congress leader posts pictures of huge crowds at Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, both are fake

The party's Ritu Choudhary, in a since deleted tweet, stated that Gandhi was creating history by the 'tsunami' of a crowd in the southern state.

Screenshot of the tweet shared by Congress leader with misrepresented photos. The tweet was, later, deleted.| Twitter: @RituChoudhryINC

New Delhi: In a since deleted tweet, the Congress’s national coordinator Ritu Choudhary posted two photographs, both of which display masses of people, allegedly gathered in support of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra – currently on its Karnataka leg. The Congress leader’s herculean journey from the southern tip of India to the northern most region of Kashmir completed 1,000 kilometres today.

The photographs, however, are not from the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“#RahulGandhi is creating History. Tsunami of crowd in Karnataka,” said the party member.  The tweet was widely shared across the social media platform.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra is definitely creating waves, attracting a large number of Congress workers and crowds everywhere it goes.

Talking about the Yatra, activist and Swaraj India leader, Yogendra Yadav in an article in ThePrint, wrote: “It’s not just mobilized crowds; this yatra has evoked genuine public response. There is no doubt that a significant and overwhelming proportion of the participants have been mobilized by the Congress Party and its leaders, including ticket aspirants. But walking across three states, I have witnessed all hues and tones of the rainbow of smiles. It would be hard to decode the mind behind each smile, but it is clear to me that the yatra has generated hope.”

Fact-check

While this may very well be the case, the waves are yet to metamorphose into Ritu Choudhary’s ‘tsunami’. Both the images posted have been falsely represented.

The first is from Nigeria in 2014, and the crowd depicted is a group of Christians gathered for evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, known for gospel missions throughout Africa.

The second photograph is not as geographically distant or as far back in time – although it is still fake. The image of hordes of people and flashy, stadium-esque lights was clicked in Telangana last year, at a Congress rally conducted by Telangana Congress president Revanth Anumala – held in solidarity with “India’s youth in their distress due to rising unemployment”. The picture was posted on the party’s official Twitter account and  garnered over 3000 likes and nearly 800 retweets.

(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)