2019 clip used to show 'Muslim League flags' at Rahul Gandhi's recent Wayanad rally

(Editor's Note: This story was first published on April 10, 2024, and has been republished from Logically Facts' archives in light of this video resurfacing as supporters seen in Wayanad when Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was filing her nomination.)

What is the claim? 

A 46-second video clip depicting individuals waving green flags at a rally is circulating on social media platforms, purporting to show “Muslim League flags” at Rahul Gandhi's recent roadshow in Wayanad, Kerala, before filing his nomination papers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India. 

One such post (archived here) on X (formerly Twitter) alleged, “Muslim League flags being waved at the nomination rally of Wayanad candidate Rahul Gandhi in Kerala. @RahulGandhi Sometimes, please hoist our saffron flag in your rally also. Why do you hate Hindus so much (translated)?”

Multiple accounts on X associated with BJP have shared the video with similar claims, and archived versions of such posts can be accessed here, here, and here. 

Gandhi is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against BJP State President K. Surendran and CPI (M) leader Annie Raja from the Wayanad constituency. He filed his nomination papers on April 3 after a roadshow with UDF (United Democratic Front-alliance led by the Indian National Congress in Kerala) and Congress party workers.

Screenshots of viral posts on social media.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video is from 2019, captured in Kasaragod, and is unrelated to Gandhi’s recent rally in Wayanad.

What did we find? 

A reverse image search of a screenshot from the viral clip led us to a Facebook post shared on May 24, 2019, which carried the exact video. The caption in Hindi roughly translates to “victory celebration in Waynad." This demonstrates that the video was old and online before the Lok Sabha election campaign.

Upon closer examination of the video, at the 0:32 seconds timestamp, a shop named “Aramana Silks Bazar” is visible. We geolocated the shop and found it on MG Road in Kasaragod district, Kerala. By comparing the surrounding buildings on Google Maps with the viral clip, we confirmed that the video was captured in Kasaragod and not in Wayanad.

Comparison between the viral clip and the Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps/Screenshot)

In the viral video, we hear slogans hailing UDF and Gandhi, with the crowd making political jibes against CPI(M), the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Further research revealed that the green flag in the viral clip belongs to IUML (Indian Union Muslim League), one of the significant partners in the UDF alliance.

However, it is noteworthy that IUML and Congress flags were absent from Gandhi’s recent roadshow, which drew criticism from both CPI(M) and BJP, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who remarked that the party lacked the courage to display the flags publicly.

We also located the full video of the roadshow, live-streamed on Gandhi's official YouTube channel, dated April 3, 2024. In the rally, people are seen holding Gandhi’s pictures and tricolor balloons; no green flags are visible. Multiple media outlets such as The Indian Express, India Today, and ABP News have also confirmed these details, adding that this time, Congress took precautions due to the controversy during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which falsely alleged that IUML flags were Pakistani flags.

India Today had previously debunked the claim that Pakistani flags were raised at a UDF rally in 2019, which included a statement from M. C. Kamaruddin, the President of IUML in Kasaragod district. He confirmed that the video was from Kasaragod district during the 2019 public election campaign called ‘Kottikalasam.’ 

Kamaruddin also added that slogans supporting UDF and Gandhi were chanted at the rally as people cheered Congress candidate Rajmohan Unnithan, who won the seat from Kasaragod that year.

The verdict 

A video of a political rally in 2019 where people waved IUML flags is now falsely being linked to Rahul Gandhi's recent roadshow in Wayanad, insinuating that Congress only supports the Muslim community. However, Gandhi’s 2024 nomination rally did not include any green flags in its procession. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.