Fact check: Rahul Gandhi is holding the Indian Constitution in image shared by Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted on May 17 an image of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi holding a book with a red cover and mentioned in the caption: “The original copy of the Constitution of India has a blue cover. The original Chinese constitution has a red cover. Does Rahul carry a Chinese Constitution? We will need to verify.” The Assam CM suggested that Gandhi was holding the Chinese Constitution in a rally.

His tweet has received over 10 lakh views and has been retweeted over 7,100 times.

The original copy of the Constitution of India has a blue cover .

The original Chinese constitution has a red cover.

Does Rahul carry a Chinese Constitution? We will need to verify. pic.twitter.com/ZVueIOweDA

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) May 17, 2024

Several other users including Harsh Chaturvedi BJP (मोदी का परिवार) (@harshcha) who is the BJP Uttar Pradesh’s social media co-convener, further shared the same set of images with the Assam CM’s claim.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fact Check

We ran a reverse image search on the picture of Rahul Gandhi that was shared by the Assam CM. This led us to a news report by The Morung Express who had also carried the same image. As per the report, the image is from a public meeting held in Nagarkurnool, Telangana, where Rahul Gandhi addressed a prepoll rally. Presenting a copy of the Indian Constitution at the rally, Gandhi claimed that the INDIA bloc was determined to protect the Constitution.

We found the entire 50-minute-long recording of the public meeting on the Indian Express’ YouTube channel, the meeting was held on May 5. In this video, we can find a front angle of the moment at which Rahul Gandhi held up the Constitution to the crowd. At the 29:22 mark of the video, Gandhi can be seen holding up the Constitution. On the cover, one can see “The Constitution of India” clearly written.

In the screengrab below, one can clearly see what is written on the cover of the book that Rahul Gandhi is holding.

Further, we ran a relevant keyword search and found that the Constitution that Gandhi was holding is the Coat Pocket Edition published by Eastern Book Company (@ebcindia). Images of this edition of the Indian Constitution can be found on EBC’s official X page and on its website.

As a matter of fact, several BJP leaders have been seen with the coat pocket edition of the Indian Constitution. We also found photos of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind holding the edition.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

While the cover of the original copy of the Constitution of India was blue, several editions of the Constitution have since been published with various cover designs.

Hence, the suggestion by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi might be holding the Chinese Constitution is false. Gandhi was holding the Coat Pocket Edition of the Indian Constitution published by Eastern Book Company.