A video of Rahul Gandhi at a popular eatery in Delhi in April this year is going viral on social media with a false claim that the Congress leader was spotted eating non-vegetarian food during the month of Sawan, which Hindus consider holy.
BOOM found that the video was not taken during the month of Sawan which began on July 4 this year. The video is from when Gandhi met food journalist Kunal Vijayakar for a candid interaction over dinner in April this year.
Shravan, which is also called Sravana or Sawan month as per the Hindu calendar, is considered an auspicious month by the devotees of lord Shiva. This year the beginning of Sawan month fell on July 4 and will continue till August 31.
The video is doing rounds with a caption saying, "Rahul Ghandhi reached to eat non-veg in the month of Sawan. That's why people said seasonal Hindu Hanuman ji". (sic)
Click here to view the post.
BOOM also received the same video on its WhatsApp tipline number (7700906588) with a request for verification.
Fact Check
Upon observing the video closely, BOOM noticed that the Congress leader can be seen entering a restaurant named Al Jawahar. We then performed a keyword search related to 'Rahul Gandhi Al Jawahar' and found the same video on India Today's official YouTube channel.
India Today uploaded the video on April 18, 2023, with a caption saying, "Rahul Gandhi At Al Jawahar Restaurant, Jama Masjid".
Taking a cue, we looked into Gandhi's official YouTube channel and noticed that the Congress leader posted a video about his visit to the restaurant with food journalist Kunal Vijayakar on April 25, 2023.
In the video posted by Gandhi, the Congress leader and the food journalist can be seen wearing the same blue t-shirt and black shirt when compared to the viral video.
We also found news reports stating that Gandhi visited Delhi’s Chandni Chowk on April 18 this year, and tried a popular summer drink Mohabbat Ka Sharbat including the flavours of watermelon and rose syrup to celebrate Ramadan.
News agency ANI also published a video report about Gandhi's visit to Chandni Chowk at that time. The visuals can be seen below.