DigitEye India Fact Checkers
An image showing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on India Today magazine cover with a title that reads, “Maha-Raja of Mishap” is being shared on social media, mocking him over the defeat of the INDIA bloc in recently-held Maharastra Assembly elections.
THE DEFEATED PRINCE! pic.twitter.com/pop4lCBLOn
— BALA (@erbmjha) November 23, 2024
“The Defeated Prince,” said an X user sharing the image of a special issue of the India Today magazine, dated “November 23, 2024”.
The results of Maharashtra state assembly elections revealed that the Congress party’s coalition was defeated by the BJP-led coalition.
The claim has been shared here and here.
FACT-CHECK
A quick search for India Today special issue yielded no results. Instead, a clarification by India Today on its official X account showed that India Today did not publish any such special edition as claimed, nor did it issue any edition with Rahul Gandhi’s image on Congress defeat in Maharashtra state assembly elections.
#FactCheck | Fake covers! India Today magazine DID NOT publish these stories on Rahul Gandhi
The dates written on the viral covers are November 23 and December 2. On November 23, the magazine did not publish an edition. The December 2 edition also does not feature a story about… pic.twitter.com/lI5rT4Yqw8
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) November 25, 2024
The post also included a video showing other such claims on the cover pages of the magazine disowned so far. The post dated November 28, 2024 said:”India Today magazine DID NOT publish these stories on Rahul Gandhi.”
Further, the magazine said, “The dates written on the viral covers are November 23 and December 2. On November 23, the magazine did not publish an edition. The December 2 edition also does not feature a story about the Congress leader.”
The date written on the viral cover page was November 23 but India Today, being a weekly magazine, publishes its new editions on every Monday. As November 23 was a Saturday, there was no such publication or any special edition with that date. The nearest edition was published on November 25 but its cover story is on workplace stress. Hence, the claim is false.
Claim: India Today magazine’s cover dated Nov 23 featured Rahul Gandhi with a title: “Maha-Raja of Mishap” after Congress defeat in Maharashtra elections.
Conclusion: Totally False. India Today never issued any such edition with Rahul Gandhi on its cover, dated November 23, 2024.
Rating: Totally False — 
