India
In the midst of the BBC documentary row, many claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with the producer of the controversial film.
Updated : Feb 09, 2023, 01:08 PM IST | Edited by : Vaishnawi Sinha
As the controversy surrounding a recent documentary released by BBC has made its way to the political parties and universities in India, many are claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had interacted with the producer of the documentary before its release.
The BBC documentary, titled ‘India: The Modi Question’, has been making waves in the country, especially kicking up an uproar over the screening of the documentary in several educational institutes like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Hyderabad University.
Now, a photo is doing rounds on social media which claims that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had met with the maker of the BBC documentary in question months before its release. People have been sharing the image on social media, accusing Gandhi of forming a conspiracy against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
6 months ago @RahulGandhi went to UK & met the BBC producer.
— Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (@SVishnuReddy) January 28, 2023
A picture is worth a thousand words!#BBCdocumentry pic.twitter.com/Yua0pn0Li5
Rahul Gandhi had also publicly taken a stance backing the BBC documentary, which has raised a finger on the 2002 Gujarat riots and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of the state at the time of the violence.
The photo of Rahul Gandhi reportedly in a photo with the producer of the BBC documentary was shared by several political leaders including BJP leader Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, who wrote, “6 months ago @RahulGandhi went to the UK & met the BBC producer. A picture is worth a thousand words!”
After a probe by several media agencies, it was found that the claims regarding the photo are fake. Rahul Gandhi did visit the United Kingdom months ago but he did not get a photo clicked with the maker of the controversial BBC documentary.
The photo dates back to May 2022, when Gandhi met with the UK MP Jeremy Corbyn, who is a member of the Labour Party in the country. The photo is of Rahul Gandhi, Jeremy Corbyn, and engineer Sam Pitroda. The image was also tweeted from the official Twitter account of Congress and Gandhi months ago.
Our chairman @sampitr.com/veyWjx1bpL
— Indian Overseas Congress (@INCOverseas) May 23, 2022
Further, the producers of the BBC documentary are Richard Cookson and Mike Radford. Till now, no link has been established between the documentary and UK MP Jeremy Corbyn.
The BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ has been banned in India due to some facts about the 2002 Gujarat riots and PM Modi, while many students in the country have been screening the documentary inside college campuses, leading to massive backlash and uproar.