Pictures of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wearing mask while sitting in front of a plateful of food are being shared on social media with sarcastic comments claiming Gandhi is eating with his mask on.
BOOM found pictures of Gandhi without mask while eating alongside the photos that show him masked.
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Two viral pictures - showing Rahul Gandhi sitting alongside women at a dining table with his mask on and sitting beside Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi with food on his plate - are viral on several social media pages.
The Hindi caption with the pictures translate to 'The first man to eat with his mask on'.
(Hindi: मास्क लगा कर खाना खाने वाला पहला आदमी)
Arun Yadav, state in-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party, Haryana IT department, tweeted the photo of the Congress leader with the same caption on January 26.
The picture is viral on Facebook too.
A collage of pictures with a similar caption was shared of Facebook page Pidi Jee Kahin on January 28. View the post here.
View posts here and here.
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Fact Check
BOOM looked for the viral pictures on internet and found that they told a different story.
Picture 1
We found a set of pictures from the same event tweeted by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee's official Twitter handle on January 24, 2021.
The caption in Tamil translates to 'It is a pleasure to have food with the loving and kind Tamil people. - President Rahul Gandhi'.
(Tamil: அன்பும் பண்பும் நிறைந்த தமிழ் மக்களோடு உணவு உண்டது மகிழ்ச்சி அளிக்கிறது. - தலைவர் ராகுல் காந்தி)
BOOM found news reports from January 2021 which carried images of the Congress leader from the same event where he can be seen without a mask, enjoying his meal.
A January 25, 2021 report published in The Hindu stated the the former Congress president was on a three-day visit to Tamil Nadu. During his visit, Rahul Gandhi had food with weavers in Odanilai, Erode.
A video uploaded on the YouTube channel of PuthiyathalaimuraiTV on January 24, 2021 shows the Congress leader getting his pictures clicked with his mask on before he removes it for eating food.
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Picture 2
The picture show Rahul Gandhi in the company of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and others. While others are seen without masks, Gandhi can be seen wearing one.
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BOOM found that the viral video is from Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.
The Congress leader was seen eating langar food at the Golden Temple along with Charanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
A video uploaded on the YouTube channel of One India Hindi on January 27 shows Gandhi having lunch with other Congressmen at the langar without a mask.
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