Fact Check: Wayanad Congress Did Not Release Video of Ram Temple Demolition and Mosque Construction

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A video is going viral on social media in connection with the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala. The video shows Ram Mandir transitioning into a mosque. At the end of the video, a message allegedly connects it to the Wayanad Congress Committee, urging votes for Rahul Gandhi. Some users are sharing this video and claiming that Congress has made a video showing a mosque in place of Ram Mandir to seek votes in favour of Priyanka Gandhi in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.

Vishvas News found in its investigation that this video had also gone viral during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the Wayanad Congress Committee filed a police complaint demanding action against the person who made this video. Ernakulam Rural Cyber Police had also registered a case against a person for sharing the video.

What is the viral post?

The user sent this picture to Vishvas News tipline number +91 9599299372 and requested to verify its authenticity.

Facebook user Avneesh Kumar shared the video (archived link) on November 10 2024 with the caption,

“Look at the kind of ad Congress has made for its Wayanad Lok Sabha seat to vote for Rahul Gandhi. Shame shame shame shame Congress. Secular Hindus, at least open your eyes now”

Investigation

We conducted a Google search using relevant keywords to investigate the viral claim and found a report published on ANI’s website on April 26, 2024. It states that the Wayanad District Committee of Congress has lodged a police complaint regarding a ‘fake video’ of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi being made viral on social media in the name of the party unit. The complaint states, “It has been noticed that a fake video is being made and circulated in the name of Wayanad District Congress Committee with the intention of destroying the religious harmony of the country,” In the complaint, it was also appealed to remove the video from social media, demanding action against the person who made the video. 

A related video was also found on NewsX Live’s YouTube channel, uploaded on April 27, 2024. It is reported that the Wayanad Congress Committee has lodged a police complaint, requesting action against the person who made the video.

A related news can also be seen on the website of The New Indian Express, uploaded on May 4, 2024, with the caption, “A case has been registered against a resident of Muvattupuzha who allegedly circulated a video against Rahul Gandhi claiming that the Congress leader is seeking votes in Wayanad to reinstate the mosque in Ayodhya. Ernakulam Rural Cyber Police registered a case following a complaint filed by Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan recently. The case was registered against Rajesh G Nair, Thrikkalathur, Muvattupuzha, who allegedly circulated the video on a WhatsApp group. The video has a duration of 30 seconds starting with a song depicting Ram temple in Ayodhya. Later, it was seen that the temple was destroyed and replaced by a mosque. The video ends with a picture of Rahul Gandhi seeking votes for Congress.”

Regarding this, Kerala Congress Vice President VT Balaram stated, “The allegation that Wayanad Congress made this video and made it viral is absurd. This must be the work of opposition parties. By the way, we generally do not use the Wayanad Congress Committee. We are contesting elections here in the name of UDF, not Congress alone. If we use the name of the party, then we will use ‘District Congress Committee Wayanad’.”

Voting was held on November 13 2024 in the Wayanad seat which fell vacant after Rahul Gandhi’s resignation. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is contesting from here.

Concluding our investigation, we scanned the Facebook profile of the user who shared the video with the false claim. The user, who lives in Dehradun, is influenced by an ideology.