Do these photos show Rahul Gandhi at Assam flood relief camp? No, claim is misleading

What is the claim?

On July 8, 2024, multiple mainstream Indian media outlets reported that Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, visited a flood relief camp in Fulertal, Silchar, Assam. These reports claimed that the Congress party leader interacted with flood-affected people before proceeding to the neighboring state of Manipur.

News agency ANI published a report (archived here) titled 'Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visits flood-affected victims at relief camp in Fulertal,' featuring images of Gandhi at a camp interacting with residents. Similarly, the Press Trust of India (PTI) referenced an X (formerly Twitter) post by Gandhi expressing support for Assam's flood victims and reported (archived here) his visit to a flood relief camp in Fulertal.

Multiple media outlets, including Deccan Chronicle, Zee News, NDTV, The Week, and The Indian Express, also published reports about Gandhi's alleged visit to a flood relief camp in Fulertal, Assam.

On social media, journalist Tamal Saha shared images of Gandhi on X, writing: "#RahulGandhi with the victims of #AssamFloods at Hmar relief camp in Fulertal in #Assam. More than 70 people have lost their lives, lakhs homeless."

A Facebook user shared the same images, stating: "Shadow Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi visited flood-affected people living in relief camps in #Assam. A true leader is one who visits people in their time of need!"

Screenshots of social media posts claiming to show Rahul Gandhi visiting victims of flood at a relief camp in Assam. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshots)

However, we found that these pictures actually showed Gandhi at a relief camp in Assam's Silchar for people affected by violence in neighboring Manipur. While he did meet people affected by floods in Assam, these particular images do not depict that encounter. The camp he visited in Assam housed victims of the Manipur violence, not flood-affected individuals.

What do the photos really show?

We found an X post (archived here) shared by the official Congress account on July 8, 2024. The post, originally in Hindi, was captioned: "Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi met refugees of Manipur violence at a relief camp in Assam. Phulertal, Assam."

Screenshot of the X post by Congress. (Source: X/@INCindia)

We also found a video (archived here) shared on Gandhi's official Instagram page showing similar visuals of the Congress leader interacting with people. The video was captioned: "Dear people of Manipur, I come to you as your brother. I will do everything I can to bring back peace to all your lives."

In the clip, Gandhi can be heard asking, "So you want security, and you want to return?" People respond, "Yes, we want to go back." At one point, a woman says, "We want peace." This establishes that the people seen in the visuals are victims of the Manipur violence, not flood victims as claimed.

According to Barak Bulletin, a local media outlet, Gandhi, along with a team from Assam Congress, visited a camp at Fulertal in Silchar and "distributed essential food supplies to Manipur refugees." The report highlights how the "refugees" expressed their plight to the Congress leader and "conveyed their desire to return home and have peace restored in their state."

India Today NE also shared a video on Facebook (archived here) of Gandhi interacting with the same people. The post's caption read: "Hmar Students' Association extends gratitude to Rahul Gandhi for visiting the relief camp in Cachar district in Assam."

What did Congress say?

Logically Facts spoke with Bhupen Kumar Bora (archived here), the president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, who accompanied Gandhi during his visit. He confirmed that the Leader of the Opposition did not visit any flood relief camp in Silchar, and the camp he went to accommodates people displaced by the Manipur violence.

"We did not visit any flood relief camp as such. However, we met some flood-affected people on the road on our way to Manipur from Assam. We went to two camps—one at Jiribam in Manipur, and the other at Silchar in Assam. Both camps are for people affected by the Manipur violence," he said.

However, he added that a team of Assam Congress did apprise Gandhi about the current flood situation in Assam and handed him a memorandum. Gandhi also posted about this on his official X (archived here) account. 

Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, who also accompanied Gandhi, stated in an X post (archived here) on July 8 that the leader met flood victims in Assam and visited Manipuri refugee camps in Assam and Manipur.

Screenshot of the X post by Congress leader K.C. Venugopal. (Source: X/@kcvenugopalmp)

We contacted Lalhrilthang Hmar, General Secretary of the Hmar Student Association, an organization representing the Hmar community in northeastern India, including Manipur and Assam. Hmar, from the Barak Valley joint headquarters, stated that Rahul Gandhi and his party leaders visited a community support relief camp for displaced people from Manipur in Hmarkhawlien village, Lakhipur, near Fulertal.

"Rahul Gandhi visited the relief center at Thalai Inn in Hmarkhawlien, Lakhipur. We have two relief centers in Hmarkhawlien accommodating 170-180 people. These are individuals displaced by the violence in Manipur; there are no flood-affected people here," he said. Hmar shared images of Gandhi's visit to the relief center that match those featured in media reports and social media posts.

Images shared by Lalhrilthang Hmar resemble the images in the Congress’ X post. (Source: Accessed by Logically Facts)

These findings show that some Indian mainstream media and social media users have wrongly attributed images of Gandhi visiting a relief camp for victims of Manipur violence to a flood relief camp in Assam.

The verdict

Rahul Gandhi did not visit a flood relief camp in Assam’s Cachar district during his recent trip to the state. The images carried by news reports and shared online show him visiting a relief center for people displaced by the Manipur violence.