Congress Files FIR Against Jhooth Ki Goonj Over Rahul Gandhi Fact-Check Claims

The Congress party has filed a police complaint and an FIR in Karnataka against the website “Jhooth Ki Goonj”, alleging that it circulated false and misleading content targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The complaint comes after the website emerged as a platform claiming to fact-check statements made by Gandhi during his “Chhatron Ki Goonj” student outreach campaign.

According to the website, it examined 40 statements made by Gandhi at events in Dehradun, Kota, Prayagraj and Pune between June 17 and August 22. It claims that 29 statements were false and 11 were misleading.

The portal has focused on claims concerning government jobs, unemployment, education and crimes against women. It uses an interactive map to categorise the statements according to the cities where they were made.

The Congress has objected to the website's content and approached the police in Karnataka, resulting in the registration of an FIR over the alleged circulation of false and misleading material against Rahul Gandhi.

One of the claims challenged by “Jhooth Ki Goonj” relates to Gandhi's statement in Prayagraj that only one out of 150 government-job aspirants gets a government job. The website labels the statement misleading and cites government data in support of its assessment.

The portal has also called Gandhi's claim in Pune that six out of every 100 women in India are raped false, arguing that the figure does not correspond with official crime records.

Another claim, that 99% of sexual violence, rape and molestation cases go unreported, has also been labelled false by the website. The portal argues that the figure was derived from an older media analysis.

Congress has promoted “Chhatron Ki Goonj” as a nationwide youth outreach campaign intended to provide students with a platform to raise concerns about education, safety and other issues.

The controversy has drawn political attention, with BJP leader Amit Malviya praising “Jhooth Ki Goonj” on social media and describing it as a platform that challenges Gandhi's claims with data.

The FIR adds a new dimension to the political dispute, shifting the controversy from a debate over the accuracy of individual claims to a police case concerning the alleged dissemination of misleading content. The allegations made by the website and the Congress's claims in the FIR remain matters to be examined through the relevant legal and factual processes.