Days after the tragedy at New Delhi Railway Station that claimed the lives of 18 people, multiple social media users shared a video of Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, claiming that they met the victims of the New Delhi Railway Station stampede after the tragic incident.
However, the PTI Fact Check Desk investigated and found this claim to be false. The viral video dates back to August 2024 and shows Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meeting survivors of the Wayanad landslide. The unrelated video was falsely linked to the recent New Delhi Railway Station stampede.
At least 18 people were killed and several others injured in a stampede that broke out at the New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, 2025. The tragedy was reportedly triggered by a sudden surge of passengers waiting to board trains to Prayagraj, where the Maha Kumbh Mela is underway.
Claim:
On February 17, an X (formerly Twitter) user named Rukmanand Swami shared a video of Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, claiming that the two leaders met with those affected by the stampede at New Delhi Railway station.
The post’s caption, originally in Hindi, read: “Who is responsible for the deaths in the stampede at Delhi Railway Station? The opposition? The country’s Prime Minister and Railway Minister should resign as soon as possible. Respected Shri Rahul Gandhi ji stands with the people of the country and the families of those who died in the Delhi accident.”
Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot.
Investigation:
The Desk ran the viral video through the InVid tool and extracted multiple keyframes. Upon running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, the Desk found several other users sharing the same video with similar claims. One such post can be found here, and its archived version can be viewed here.
On further scanning the search results, the Desk came across an X post by Ankit Mayank dated August 2, 2024. The post’s caption read: “This is so painful to watch. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi met the landslide victim families in a hospital in Wayanad. Seeing their pain, RaGa and PGV couldn’t hold their tears. Look how they are hugging their Wayanad family, so painful…”
Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot.
Below are the combination images highlighting the similarities between the viral video and X post shared in 2024
Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and came across a video report by Hindustan Times uploaded on their YouTube handle on August 2, 2024. The report’s title read: “Wayanad Landslides: Rahul Gandhi Gets Emotional After Meeting Victims, Promises To Build 100+ Houses.”
Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot.
On further analysing the search results, we also found an X post by the All India Congress Committee’s national secretary on August 2, 2024. The caption of the post read: “Prayers for Wayanad.” Here is the link, and below is a screenshot.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shared on her official X handle on August 1, 2024, that the depth of suffering experienced by survivors of the landslides in Wayanad is unimaginable. Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot.
She can be seen wearing similar clothes in the viral video shared on social media. Below is a combination image highlighting the same.
A report published by India Today on August 1, 2024, mentioned that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the landslide site at Chooralmala in Kerala’s Wayanad. The Congress leaders assessed the situation in the area and met the affected people. The title of the report read: “Rahul Gandhi meets Wayanad landslides victims: How I felt when my father died.”
Here is the link to the report.
Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the viral video dates back to August 2024 when Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met survivors of the Wayanad landslide.
Conclusion: Multiple social media users shared a video of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claiming that the two leaders met the stampede victims at the New Delhi Railway station. In its investigation, the Desk found that the viral video dates back to 2024, as it shows Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meeting survivors of the Wayanad landslide in August 2024.
The fact-check story was originally published by PTI Fact Check and has been republished by Lighthouse Journalism as a part of Shakti Collective.
