Did AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal snub Rahul Gandhi in this video? Fact Check

A video has gone viral with a claim that Arvind Kejriwal, former Delhi Chief Minister, did shake hands with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and others while Rahul Gandhi waits with his extended hand on the stage of swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Later, Rahul Gandhi shakes hands with AAP’s other leader Raghav Chaddha, while Kejriwal goes ahead to greet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

The viral clip also shows Kejriwal, Chaddha, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann waving their hands from the stage and going ahead to greet Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, ignoring and sitting away from Rahul Gandhi.

Sharing the video, the post on X.com claimed in the caption: “केजरीवाल जी ने राहुल गाँधी से नही मिलाया हाथ 😂 मतलब साफ दिल्ली चुनाव मे कांग्रेस को भाव नहीं देने के मूड मे है AAP.” [Translated into English: “Kejriwal did not shake hands with Rahul Gandhi. It is clear that AAP is not in the mood to give Congress any importance in the Delhi elections.”]

It can be accessed here and here.

FACT-CHECK

Digiteye India received a request to fact-check the claim, which seemed genuine. So, we checked for the original video of the swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

In the original video, uploaded on YouTube official channel of Jhargov TV on November 28, shows Arvind Kejriwal arriving on stage with Raghav Chaddha and going straight to Rahul Gandhi. He can be seen shaking hands with Rahul Gandhi at the timestamp of 2 hours and 56 minutes. However, this part has been edited out of the viral video in the claim.

Rahul Gandhi was seen extending his hand later because he tried to shake hands with Chaddha, but as Kejriwal was standing between them, it looked as if he was ignored despite extending his hand.

Otherwise, conflict of views on seat-sharing in the upcoming Delhi elections next year did crop up between Kejriwal’s party and Congress but  both leaders refrained from making any allegations at each other during the INDIA coalition’s public meetings.

Hence, the claim made in the video is false.

Claim: Video shows Arvind Kejriwal refusing to shake hands with Rahul Gandhi on stage.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The part where Arvind Kejriwal was shaking hands with Rahul Gandhi was omitted in the video.
Rating: Misrepresentation —

About Arun Nag

Arun is with Digiteye India since the beginning as the main source for re-writing copies and re-checking the facts and images. He writes on general and tech issues. He can be reached at arunnag@digiteye.in

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