Clip Doesn't Show Rahul Gandhi Refusing to Wear Turban in the Absence of Cameras

Rahul Gandhi was responding to a woman, who was asking him for a picture.

Fact-check: In the video, Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying no to a woman for a picture. He didn't say no to wearing the turban.

(Photo: altered by The Quint)

A 30-second video showing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying "not now" is being shared on social media with a claim that he refused to wear a turban since there were no cameras around.

This comes after Gandhi reached Punjab on 10 January continuing the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Who shared the video?: The claim was shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) IT department in-charge Amit Malviya, BJP member Manjinder Singh Sirsa, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, and BJP Himachal member Chetan Bragta.

• The claims stated that Rahul Gandhi refused to wear the turban when the cameras were not around.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

The truth: The claim is misleading.

• He is not refusing to wear the turban but refuses a woman to take a photograph, while he is discussing something about the turban with the professional turban artists.

How did we find that out?: We spoke to Manjit Singh, the professional turban artist, in the video.

• Singh told The Quint that while Gandhi was discussing turbans, a woman was constantly asking him to take a picture with her, to which he responded by saying "not now madam".

Singh's video on YouTube: We also found a video uploaded by Singh on YouTube on 10 January.

• The video shows a clearer and a longer version of the viral video from 1:12 timestamp.

In the video, the following conversation can be heard in Hindi:

Woman: Please take one picture.

Rahul Gandhi: Not now, madam.

Watermark seen on the viral video: We also noticed 'State News Punjab' logo on the top-right corner of the viral video.

The logo read 'State News Punjab'.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

We found the same video on their Facebook page from 10 January.

• From 0:04 to 0:06, a woman can be heard asking Gandhi to take a picture with her.

Rahul Gandhi wore a turban to the Golden Temple: Gandhi offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday, 10 January, where he was seen wearing a saffron-coloured turban.

Past instances of misinformation around Bharat Jodo Yatra: In the past few weeks, several users, including BJP's Amit Malviya, have shared misleading claims about Bharat Jodo Yatra.

• A video showing Union Minister Jitendra Singh tying his own shoelaces was shared by Malviya with a claim that he had bent down to tie Gandhi's shoelaces.

• Another clipped video was shared to claim that Gandhi insulted priests by saying that this is not their country.

• Another video was shared to claim that Gandhi has said that he will discontinue the yatra if it doesn't work.

Conclusion: In the video, Rahul Gandhi refuses a woman to take a picture with him and does not refuse to wear a turban.

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