Rahul Gandhi, the 46 years old youth leader of the Congress party, apparently has added another feather to his cap after being voted the 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world by no other than the BBC.
This alleged news is being shared with huge pomp and show by Congress supporters and those associated with the party:
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the World. Modi ranks 69th position- BBC. pic.twitter.com/OqZrlahb5p
— Navin Khaitan (@navinkhaitan) April 5, 2017
#RGEmpoweringYouth
Rahul gandhi was voted as 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world https://t.co/X8fyRLkMzf— HaryanaYouthCongress (@Haryana_YC) March 22, 2017
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world: BBC News@OfficeOfRG @ajaymaken @digvijaya_28 pic.twitter.com/z5VfrH5jt2
— Shaan M Saifi ?? (@shaansaifi_nsui) April 1, 2017
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the World. Modi ranks 69th position- BBC. pic.twitter.com/i0ZIr5no6S@OfficeOfRG
— Syed Asghar (@sa0074in) April 5, 2017
Their claim is based on this picture below, which is also getting shared on other social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp:
According to this picture, in a survey done by Win/Gallup International, Rahul Gandhi finished 3rd behind US President Obama and Canadian PM Trudeau. PM Narendra Modi though finished a distant 69th tied with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. As one can clearly make out, this alleged report is dated 11th Jan 2016, hence the reference of Obama as the US President.
If you are wondering as to why did you not hear about this incredible feat by Rahul Gandhi, it is because its fortunately or unfortunately not true. To confirm that, if one Google searches the whole headline, nothing remotely close to the alleged report appears in the results:
As the fake news is from Jan 2016, it is shared periodically by the Congress supporters, this apparently is the latest cycle. Last it was shared by the Congress people in June 2016 – Rahul Gandhi’s birthday month incidentally – so it might have been a birthday gift:
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most Trustworthy Political Leader in the World,PM Modi on the 69th Position https://t.co/aBByktdshS
— Shriraj Kesariya (@_shriraj) June 3, 2016
Rahul Gandhi Ji voted 3rd Most Trustworthy Political Leader in the World.-@drcpjoshi @INCIndia @OfficeOfRG pic.twitter.com/SJpYEsbBS1
— Dr. C.P. Joshi (@DrCPJoshiFans1) June 5, 2016
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world . pic.twitter.com/Rl6dn7zLev
— Arbaz shaikh (@arbaz0303) June 5, 2016
Rahul Gandhi voted 3rd most trustworthy political leader in the world – BBC News Poll #HappyBirthdayRG pic.twitter.com/WgKRDJnTV4
— Mazhar jafri (@mazhar_jafri) June 18, 2016
This was also shared on a Facebook page of Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress, which has about 82,000 likes on Facebook.
Whosoever did the photoshop, does have some knowledge about market surveys as Win/Gallup is a legitimate association that carries out market research and polling. Though even on their website, there is no information of such a survey conducted by them where Rahul Gandhi came out with flying colours.
This isn’t the only time propaganda has been peddled in the name of the BBC. Recently we had reported how a news clipping about the Congress being the 4th most corrupt party was doing the rounds. The news called ”Top 10 most corrupt political parties in the world” was actually published by a website called ”BBC news point” which had no relation with the British broadcaster, but it was enough to fool most people. This fake BBC report too is an attempt to fool people, though this time in favour of Congress.
But not all were fooled. People were amused at the efforts of the Congress supporters and reacted accordingly:
???? This should have come on 1st of April, somehow got delayed?? @ExSecular https://t.co/QHp7fBvlRs
— BISWAS K (@bkolleri) April 6, 2017
Absolutely Trustworthy.. BJP trusts him a lot for their wins and he has barely failed them https://t.co/TkMByu7v1w
— Aladdin (@Alllahdin) April 5, 2017
Was this survey done by AAP poll surveys?????..Just asking… https://t.co/bVYJRZQGjW
— ghatothgacha (@ghatothgacha) April 7, 2017