A screenshot of an alleged Congress press release, naming Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as party candidates for the prestigious Amethi and Raebareli constituencies respectively in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, has gone viral on social media. Some other users claimed that Rahul Gandhi will contest against Raebareli while the party has fielded Priyanka Gandhi from Amethi. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the press releases shared in the name of Congress were fake. The party is yet to announce its candidates for the two high-profile seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The alleged Congress candidate list is being shared with the party which maintains tension over the names of its candidates for the two seats.
Claim
A Facebook user on April 30 shared a screenshot of an alleged press release issued by the Congress, according to which Rahul Gandhi will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Raebareli.
Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:
Research
When the investigation began, the Desk ran the screenshot through Google Lens and found that several other Facebook users had shared it along with the same claim.
Two such posts can be seen here and here, and their archived versions can be seen here and here respectively.
Several X users (formerly Twitter) also shared the same screenshot with the same claim.
The Desk also came across another Facebook post, with a screenshot of another alleged Congress press release, which featured Rahul Gandhi as the party candidate from Raebareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Amethi.
Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:
In the next part of the investigation, the Desk scanned the social media handles (X and Facebook) of Congress but could not find a single press release as mentioned in the viral social media posts.
However, we came across a list of four Lok Sabha candidates released by the party at 8.22 pm on April 30. The list included the names of Raj Babbar, Anand Sharma, Satpal Raizada and Bhushan Patil.
In the next part of the investigation, the Desk conducted a custom Google search and found a news report from Hindustan Times, published at 10:08 PM on April 30.
The headline of the report read: “Cong fields Anand Sharma, Raj Babbar; tension continues over Amethi, Rae Bareli”.
“However, the party is yet to announce its candidates, Amethi and Rae Bareli. The last date for filing nominations for the two seats is May 3. A senior leader who recently met Rahul Gandhi said, the latter only smiled when party leaders told him that the entire focus of the media is on the possible Congress candidates in the two seats,” read part of the report.
“Last week, Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) members unanimously supported a proposal by the party's Uttar Pradesh leader Avinash Pandey to remove former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi from the two bastions of the Gandhi family. Amethi and Raebareli, two members of the poll panel said,” it added.
Here is the link to the report.
Meanwhile, we came across another report by Economic Times, published on April 30, 2024, the headline of which read: “Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi should not contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli: report”.
Here is the link to the report.
The Desk also found Congress leader Dr. Vineet Punia who said the alleged screenshots were fake.
The Desk then concluded that fake screenshots were being shared on social media in the name of Congressional press releases.
CLAIM
The Congress named Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as candidates for Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats.
FACT
The screenshots shared in congressional press releases are fake. The party has yet to announce its candidates for the two seats.
CONCLUSION
Several social media users shared screenshots of two alleged Congress press releases, naming Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as candidates for the Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats. In its investigation, the Bureau found that fake screenshots were shared on social media on behalf of Congress.
(This story was originally published by PTI Fact Check and republished by DailyExpertNews as part of the Shakti Collective.)