Latur Bike Rally On Milad-Un-Nabi Going Viral As Election Rally By Congress In Maharashtra.

As the Maharashtra Assembly Elections are approaching, various posts went viral on social media regarding the elections. One such post came to our notice where a video of a big bike rally was shown. Sharing the video on social media users are claiming that the video shows an election rally by the Congress party in Maharashtra. Sharing the video, a Facebook user wrote, “Election rally of the congress party in Maharashtra. Look closely and you won’t find any India flag there. Vote wisely.”

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The video has no link to the upcoming elections in Maharashtra. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check

We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a YouTube channel where the viral video was uploaded on 1 October 2024. According to the caption, the video was from Milad-Un-Nabi processions in Latur Maharashtra.

Archived Link.

Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to a vlog uploaded on YouTube on 20 September 2024. The video shows the same rally as the viral video but is shot from a different angle and place. 

We could the same black car and the person through the sunroof holding a flag in this video. According to the caption, the video shows a rally on the occasion of Milad-Un-Nabi. A comparison between the two screenshots can be seen below.

Moving forward, we found a video report uploaded on Latur News Official YouTube channel on 19 September 2024. The caption read, “लातूर मध्ये ईद मिलादुन्नबी ची बाईक रॅली | Eid Milad Rally Latur | Latur News Official”

Further, we found other videos from the same bike rally that mentioned it to be from the Latur Milad-Un-Nabi rally.

We geolocated the place which can be seen below.

A comparison between the screenshot from the viral video and the Google Maps image can be seen below.

For more information, we contacted the Latur Police. Latur Police Inspector Premprakash
Marotrao Makode said, “This procession is part of a bike rally organized on the occasion of
Eid-e-Milad on September 19. There is social harmony in Latur as Ganesh Visarjan and Eid-
e-Milad coincide. Therefore, every year Hindu and Muslim communities agree on two
separate days for taking out the procession here. This year also the first Ganesh Visarjan
was held on 17th September and then on 19th September a bike rally was held on the
occasion of Eid-e-Milad”.

This makes it clear that the viral video is from the Latur Maharashtra Miladunnabi bike rally.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The video is not showing a congress rally in Maharashtra. The video shows a bike rally on the occasion of Miladunnabi in Latur Maharashtra.