No, Rahul Gandhi Wasn't ‘Absent’ From the Parliament During National Anthem

This claim is misleading as Gandhi was present in the Parliament during the anthem and was standing at the back.

Fact-check: A misleading claim about Rahul Gandhi being absent from the Parliament during the national anthem is going viral on social media.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video from the Parliament showing the national anthem playing is going online to falsely claim that the leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi missed the anthem and joined the session late.

The claim comes after the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha happened on 24 June 2024 at the new Parliament House in New Delhi.

Who shared it?: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Andhra Pradesh vice-president Vishnu Vardhan Reddy along with several social media users shared this claim to take a dig at Gandhi.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: These claims are false, Gandhi can be seen in the video from the beginning of the national anthem but he is standing in the back.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search on Google using 'Rahul Gandhi late in Lok Sabha assembly' but did not find any valid reports on it.

• Next we found the same video's extended version on Sansad TV’s YouTube channel.

• The National Anthem begins at the 3:07 timestamp and INDIA bloc's MPs can be seen at 3:18 timestamp.

• At this moment, Gandhi can be seen in the top left corner but his top half gets covered by the Sansad TV logo.

Video can be seen here.

(Source: Sansad TV/Alterd by The Quint)

• At 4:13 timestamp, Gandhi can then be seen walking up to his seat in the same outfit, a white T-shirt and black trousers.

Video can be seen here.

(Source: Sansad TV/Alterd by The Quint)

Youth Congress leader Srinivas BV also took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that this viral claim is false.

Conclusion: A misleading claim about Rahul Gandhi being absent from the Parliament during the national anthem is going viral on social media.

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