- By Akanksha Verma
- Wed, 24 Apr 2024 01:40 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
As the 2024 Lok Sabha Election gets underway, a selfie of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is being shared on social media. In the picture from Kerala, she can be seen with a party leader who had been accused of slaughtering a cow in public. With the viral post, it is falsely being claimed that Priyanka Gandhi recently met Kerala Congress leader Rijil Chandran Makkuty during a campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
Vishvas News, the fact checking wing of Jagran New Media, investigated the claim and found it to be false.
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Fact Check: Selfie Of Priyanka Gandhi And Rijil Makkuty Five Years Old
The fact-check team found that the picture of Priyanka Gandhi and Makkuty was about five years old, and not a recent one. Rijil Makkuty, who was arrested by the police in 2017 in the cow slaughter case, had been suspended by the Congress. He is back in the party now.
Sharing the old selfie, social media users have claimed that Priyanka Gandhi met the controversial leader during a recent visit to Kerala. However, the claims are misleading.
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Fact Check: What's The Truth Behind Priyanka Gandhi's Selfie
The fact checkers of Vishvas News used Google Lens to search the viral picture and found that Rijil Chandran Makkutty had posted it on his Facebook profile on April 20, 2019. The picture had been clicked at Kannur Airport.
On June 1, 2017, Kerala Police arrested Rizil Makkutty for his alleged involvement in killing a cow in Kannur during a Youth Congress protest against the Centre's ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. Congress had earlier suspended Rizil and other workers for their 'barbaric' protest mode and it was also publicly condemned by party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Local journalist Prashanth confirmed that the picture is about five years old and that Rizil is currently associated with Congress. Hence, it becomes clear that the picture of Priyanka Gandhi and Kerala Congress leader Rijil is about five years old and is unrelated to the present situation.
