Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa said that he realised that the proof he showed against Rabi Lamichhane turned out to be forged.
Fact
Viral image was captured during a press meet organised by Thapa to show Rabi’s involvement in cooperative scams.
Many social media platforms have been flooded with claims that Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has admitted that the document he presented before the parliament against Rashtriya Swatantra Party Chairman and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has turned out to be false.
The claim linked to Gagan Thapa, who came down heavily upon Rabi Lamichhane for his alleged involvement in a cooperation scam, has gone viral after the parliamentary special committee formed to look into cooperative scam questioned Rabi Lamichhane on Friday (August 23).
TikTok user @kamalpujara40 posted a video carrying a photo of Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa speaking at a press meet. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Gagan Thapa said that he didn’t really check the document he presented at the parliament against Rabi Lamichhane then, and he just realised that it was forged.”
The video posted on August 25, 2024 has garnered 4994 likes, and has been shared by 136 users. The post also has 909 comments until the time of publishing this article.
Another TikTok user @bishnu220kharal also posted the same photo and the quote attributed to Gagan Thapa.
A X (formerly twitter) handle named Dr. Nidhi also posted the claim with the same image.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim, Newscheker conducted a reverse image search on the viral photograph. The results threw up several articles carrying photographs bearing similarity to the viral image.
One such photograph, featured on a report by onlinekhabar.com on May 19, 2024, was found to be an exact match of the viral image.
The article indicated that the image was captured during a press meet organised by Gagan Thapa at the Parliament premises.
Further, we found another video, dated May 19, 2024, from the same press meet published on the YouTube channel of Setopati online. In the video, Gagan Thapa is seen brandishing documents, which allegedly prove that Rabi Lamichhane had indeed applied for loan from various finance cooperatives including Pokhara-based Suryadarshan.
We also found an article published on Kathmandu Post online, dated May 10, 2024, which noted that the first meeting of the Budget Session of the parliament was adjourned due to obstruction from Nepali Congress demanding a parliamentary probe against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane.
We also searched for any possible media reports if Gagan Thapa had made such a statement backtracking on his position against Rabi Lamichhane. However, we found no such information reported by any media house.
We then reached out to Thapa’s public relations office and talked to Gopal Acharya, who looks after public affairs for Thapa. Acharya said that Thapa has never made such a statement and the claim is misleading.
Conclusion
No, Gagan Thapa has not said that the proof he presented at the parliament against Rabi Lamichhane is forged. The viral claim is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
Onlinekhabar, May 19, 2024
Setopati online/YouTube, May 19, 2024
Kathmandu Post online, May 10, 2024
Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
