Fact Check: Gagan Thapa Said Rabi Lamichhane Will Be Released Soon? No, Viral Video Is Misleading

Claim
Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa told the parliament that RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane will be released soon.
Fact
No, the viral video shows Gagan Thapa speaking in the parliament about public discontent.

A video allegedly showing Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa saying that Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane is his friend and he will be released from the custody soon is going viral on TikTok.
TikTok user @cancel_500 posted a 23-second video showing Nepali Congress member of parliament (MP) Gagan Thapa speaking in the parliament. In the viral video, MP Thapa says, “Before speaking myself today, I had an opportunity to listen to the statement presented by the main opposition party leader and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. Mainly, the views expressed by the main opposition on the constitution of Nepal and the federal democratic republic.” Text superimposed on the video reads, “Gagan Thapa says he came after meeting Rabi Lamichhane and that Lamichhane is his friend and he didn’t frame him, he [Lamichhane] will be released from custody soon.”

The video posted on June 27 has garnered 15.4k likes, 186 users have shared it and 569 people have commented until the last count.

The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.

Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.

Fact Check /Verification

To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker took a key frame from the viral video and ran a reverse search on it. The results led us to a 39:11 minute video, dated March 11, 2025, posted on the YouTube channel of Mero Lagani online.

On checking the video, we found that the clip from 9-second onwards exactly matched the viral clip. We also knew that the House speaker gave 38-minute time to Thapa to present his views. On listening to his speech, we found that Thapa stressed on the need to address the dissatisfaction of the people and hold talks with the disgruntled groups.

However, nowhere in his entire 38-minute long speech did we find Nepali Congress general secretary uttering a word about Rabi Lamichhane.

Further, we ran a key-phrase search for “Gagan Thapa meets Rabi Lamichhane” but the search didn’t yield any relevant results.

We found another video, dated March 11, 2025, posted on the YouTube channel of Janata Television. On checking the video, we found that the footage from 24-second onwards exactly matched the viral clip.

Newschecker also found a clip, dated March 11, 2025, matching the viral clip. The clip was posted on the Facebook page of Deshsanchar online. The video caption noted that Gagan Thapa underscored the need to address the growing grievances of the people.

Thus, findings clearly showed that the viral clip has nothing to do with Nepali Congress general secretary Gagan Thapa meeting RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichane. An old clip of Thapa’s parliament speech is being shared with false text laid on top.

Conclusion

No, Nepali Congress general secretary Gagan Thapa has not said that he met Rabi Lamichhane and the latter will be released soon. The viral video shows an old clip of Thapa’s speech in the parliament about contemporary politics and public discontent.

Result: False

Sources
Mero Lagani/YouTube March 11, 2025
Janata Television /YouTube March 11, 2025
Deshsanchar/Facebook, March 11, 2025

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