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
Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has demanded resignation of PM Oli in support of Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane.
Fact
Video showing the protest rally of RSP in Pokhara shared with a false audio laid on top.
A video claiming that former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in support of Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman Rabi Lamichhane is going viral on TikTok.
The video has gone viral in the wake of the Kaski District Court’s decision to remand Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair and former home minister Rabi Lamichhane in custody for six days for further investigation on charges of cooperatives funds embezzlement and organised crime.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @rsp_official.come posted a video allegedly showing CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ addressing a mass gathering of the RSP supporters after the arrest of Rabi Lamichhane. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Prachanda has expressed his support to Rabi Lamichhane and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.” In a passionate speech, Dahal is heard saying, “I have seen the drama and scam of KP Sharma Oli. You [KP Oli] should resign right away and issue a statement apologising for your action. Nepali people can give you some room for trust. We must win this battle, and we will win it anyhow. I challenge you and you can see that within a few days, hundreds of people will show up to encircle Singha Durbar [central government secretariat of Nepal] and Baluwatar [official residence of Nepal’s Prime Minister].”
The video posted on October 21 has garnered 8658 likes, 326 users have liked and 184 people have shared until the last count.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker split the video into several key-frames and ran reverse searches on them. A search led us to several YouTube videos of the protest assembly held in Pokhara following the arrest of Rabi Lamichhane.
On checking a video, dated October 21, 2024, posted by one YouTube account named RRaj Kumar Rawat we found that the video frame resembled the viral video. The clip also showed a protest rally organised in Pokhara against the arrest of Rabi Lamichhane. We also checked another video found
We also found an article, dated October 20, 2024, carrying an image showing RSP lawmakers participating in a protest rally organised in Manavadhikar Chowk in Pokhara. The news article published on Kathmandu Post online reported about the protest triggered by Lamichhane’s arrest.
We compared a parking board on the viral video and the photo carried in the Post hung next to a tree from where the RSP leaders are seen addressing the protest rally.
Thus, our findings clearly indicated that the viral video showed the recent protest by RSP leaders and cadres organised in Pokhara.
We, then, checked the other videos using the same audio used in the viral video and found other videos of Pushpa Kamal Dahal reproduced from the same audio. Taking a clue from the speech of Maoist Chairman Dahal, we conducted a search on YouTube and found a video, dated October 12, 2024, published on a YouTube channel named Media Sathi TV. The audio of the video exactly matched the viral video. On checking the entire video, we found that the video was not from the current context.
On digging further, we found a video, dated February 10, 2021, published on the YouTube channel named Kendrabindu News. The audio of the video matched the viral video where Dahal is challenging Oli that he will come to encircle Singha Durbar and Baluwatar. Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Thus, our findings clearly indicate that the audio carried in the viral clip is actually from February 2021 when Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal were in the same camp of Nepal Communist Party co-chaired by KP Sharma Oli and Dahal. Dahal and Nepal were staging protest against then Prime Minister KP Oli.
Conclusion
No, Pushpa Kamal Dahal didn’t take part in the rally organised in response to the arrest of RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane. An old audio clip of Prachanda is falsely laid on top of the viral video showing a protest assembly organised by RSP leaders and supporters in Pokhara.
Result: False
Sources
Rraj Kumar Rawat/YouTube , Oct 21, 2024
I Love Pokhara/YouTube Oct 20, 2024
Media Sathi TV/YouTube, October 12, 2024
Kendrabindu News/YouTube, Feb 10, 2021
Kathmandu Post, Oct 20, 2024
To give your feedback on any suspicious news and information or to check its authenticity write to us at [email protected] or whatsapp us on 9999499044. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form.
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.
