Fact-Check: Old Bhutan Photo of Rahul Gandhi, Scindia Shared as One From Nepal

The photo shows Gandhi and Scindia attending the Bhutanese King’s wedding reception in 2011.

Gandhi and Scindia are pictured with the former King of Bhutan and his queens in Thimpu.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A photo showing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia with five other people is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows Scindia and Gandhi attending a wedding in Nepal.

The claim comes shortly after visuals of Rahul Gandhi at a pub in Kathmandu, Nepal did the rounds, where Gandhi has reportedly gone to attend a friend’s wedding.

But we found that the photograph is old and not from Nepal. The photograph, taken in 2011, shows both leaders attending the wedding reception of the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.

Pictured with Gandhi and Scindia are the former King Jigme Singye Wangchuk and his three wives.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared to claim that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jyotiraditya Scindia was also in attendance at a recent wedding in Nepal, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The same photograph was shared by the Madhya Pradesh Congress Sevadal’s verified Twitter account as well as the Uttar Pradesh Congress Sevadal’s Facebook page, with a similar claim.

An archive of this tweet can be seen here.

Archived versions of more posts on Facebook and Twitter can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We ran a reverse image search on the photograph on Google, and found a photo story by Hindustan Times dated 15 October 2011 that carried the same photo.

The article was published in 2011.

The caption of the photograph noted that it showed Gandhi and Scindia with Bhutan’s former King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, attending the wedding reception of current King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Queen Jetsun Pema and a stadium in Thimpu.

Scindia was previously with the Congress party before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2020. At the time of this visit to Bhutan, Scindia was the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

We also found a version of the same photo on stock photo website Alamy, which was also uploaded in 2011.

The photo also shows Scindia's wife Priyadarshini.

Clearly, an old photo of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia attending the Bhutanese King’s wedding was shared as a recent photo of both attending a wedding in Nepal.

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