Video Producer: Malavika Balasubramanian
Video Editor: Vishal Kumar
From Rahul Gandhi eating chicken biriyani to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee supposedly stopping a party worker from saying Vande Mataram, May has been a busy month for The Quint’s WebQoof team.
Here’s a look at some of the most viral stories that made the rounds this month amidst all the election-related buzz, and were debunked by the team.
The Gandhi Parivaar
As per usual, a majority of misinformation centred around the Gandhi family, across generations. One of the first stories to be debunked was a viral post which claimed that Congress President Rahul Gandhi had met Pakistan PM Imran Khan for dinner and the duo feasted on chicken biriyani.
Incidentally, the same template was viral with PM Modi in place of Gandhi last month. A reverse image search showed that the photo had been edited to inculde Rahul gandhi in place of Khan’s former wife Reham Khan.
Another story involving a member of the Gandhi family was a post that claimed if former PM Rajiv Gandhi could shoot using a digital camera in 1983, then why couldn’t PM Modi do so in 1988?
The only difference was that the camera used by Gandhi senior was not a digital camera as claimed, but a video recorder.
Lastly, another post showed a billboard with an Amul cartoon taking a dig at the Gandhi parivar’s latest entrant Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Only, Amul themselves called out the photo of the billboard as being edited, and tweeted the original cartoon.
On To West Bengal
The state of West Bengal too bore a brunt of the misinformation storm this time around, owing to the Lok sabha elections, which saw a heated contest between the BJP and the local TMC in the state.
A viral video claimed that state chief minister and chief of the TMC Mamata Banerjee stopped a party worker from chanting ‘Vande Mataram’, leading to a ruckus by the admonished worker in the state Assembly.
Only, the video was old, dating back to at least 2006, when the TMC went on a rampage in the Legislative Assembly in protest of Banerjee’s arrest for violating prohibitory orders on entering Singur.
In Other ‘Fake News’
Gurdaspur MP-elect “Sunny Deol was stopped from entering a Gurdwara in the constituency by the public when he was on campaign”, read a viral message, with a video which showed a mob surrounding Deol outside a Gurdwara.
However, when The Quint got in touch with a local reporter who was present on spot, he clarified that the mob was present due to a fight between two Akali Dal leaders, who were standing next to Deol.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9910181818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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