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
RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane advises CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli to take care of his health.
Fact
Viral video is edited by using two unrelated clips from different contexts.
A video allegedly showing Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairperson Rabi Lamichhane advising former Prime Minister and Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) KP Sharma Oli to eat well and take care of his health is going viral on TikTok.
TikTok user @lplokentmg posted a video showing a video carrying two different video frames—the first one showing former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the second one showing Rabi Lamichhane. Text superimposed on the video read, “Rabi Lamichhane motivates KP Oli after the latter sounded pessimistic.” In the video KP Sharma Oli says, “I don’t know how long I will live. I have survived several chronic diseases and surgeries, I can’t really say how long I will survive.” The footage is accompanied by a melancholic tune in the background. In the second clip, RSP Chair Rabi says, “You should take care of your diets. You should avoid oily and chilly food Baa [Father figure]. Should you not live longer and cast your vote in 2084 BS [2028 AD]? Don’t you want to see the good sons making this country?”
The video posted on November 12 has garnered 9817 likes, 312 users have shared it and 359 people have commented until the time of publishing this article.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker took a key frame from the first clip of the viral video showing CPN-UML Chairman Oli. The search led us to a video published on the YouTube channel of Setopati online. We found that the video, dated November 27, 2021, showed a clip from the 10th General Convention of CPN-UML.
We took a keyframe from the Setopati video and conducted a reverse search on it and found a video, dated November 27, 2023, posted on the Facebook page of Karnali TV HD. On checking the video thoroughly, we found that the frame from 15.23-minute to 15.34-minute timestamp exactly matched the first footage of the viral video.
Thus, our findings showed the first clip used in the viral video was from the 10th General Assembly of CPN-UML held in Chitwan from November 26 to 29 in 2021.
To check the veracity of the second video frame, we took several key frames from the video frame allegedly showing Rabi Lamichhane responding to Oli’s pessimistic tone. We ran several reverse searches on the frames from the video clip but didn’t find any relevant results.
Then we closely observed the video and noticed the logo of Saptarangi Television. Taking a clue from the video, we searched for a YouTube named Saptarangi TV and found a YouTube channel. We thoroughly checked the YouTube channel and found a video dated November 17, 2023. On checking the video whose thumbnail resembled the dress worn by Rabi and the background, we found that the video frame from 13.44-minute onwards exactly matched the second clip used in the viral video.
The video actually showed Rabi Lamichhane responding an elderly local from Chitwan during an interaction programme with local farmers of Chitwan. The video has no connection with CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli.
Conclusion
No, the viral video doesn’t show Swatantra Party Chairperson Rabi Lamichhane giving health advice to CPN-UML Chairman Oli. The viral video is edited by using two unrelated clips from different contexts.
Result: Edited
Sources
Setopati /YouTube , Nov 27, 2021
Kalika TV HD /Facebook, Nov 27, 2021
Saptarangi Online TV/YouTube, Nov 17, 2023
Setopati, Nov 27, 2021
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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.
