No, actor Raveena Tandon didn’t say she supports Congress in the ongoing Indian elections

By: Rahul Adhikari
April 25 2024

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Social media posts claim Raveena Tandon said ‘Congress will win’ ongoing Indian general election. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

Amid the ongoing Indian general elections, a video of actor Raveena Tandon has surfaced on social media claiming that she has been campaigning for the Congress party. The footage shows Tandon saying in Hindi, "I want Congress also to win some (seats) this time, so that's why I'm here to support them. The country needs development, and I'm always there for the nation's good (translated)." 

Just a day before the second phase of the polls on April 26, 2024, several users shared the video on X and wrote, "Raveena Tandon said this time Congress will win." Archived versions of such posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video actually shows Tandon, who mostly works in Hindi films, campaigning for Congress in 2012 ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls. She campaigned for a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Chandrapur in Maharashtra for the 2024 general elections.

What do we know about the video?

We found the clip of Tandon's video byte in a visual report published by ABP News (archived here) on its YouTube channel on December 12, 2012, with the title, "Raveena Tandon campaigns for Congress in Vadodara, holds roadshow." According to the description of the video, Tandon campaigned for the Congress candidate Lalit Patel from Akota assembly of Vadodara and requested Gujarat voters to cast their vote in favor of the grand old party party in the 2012 state elections.

This report carried an extended version of Tandon's interaction with the media, where she says, "All the best. I came here for him, he is like my brother and family, and I want Congress also to win some (seats) this time, so that's why I'm here to support them. The country needs development, and I'm always there for the nation's good (translated from Hindi)." 

The rest of the ABP News report shows Tandon waving to the crowd and talking to media personnel. The viral clip runs between the 0:34 mark and the 0:48 timestamp of their YouTube video. 

A similar video of Tandon's road show in Vadodara was published by a YouTube channel named DeshGujaratHD (archived here) on December 12, 2012. 

The 2012 Gujarat Assembly polls were held in two phases - December 13 and December 17. BJP won after securing 115 seats, while Congress secured victory in 61 seats out of 182 seats.

Did Raveena Tandon campaign for Congress in 2024?

Tandon has not campaigned for Congress for the ongoing polls so far. In fact, she campaigned for a BJP candidate in Maharashtra, a state in the western part of India. 

A report by The Times of India dated April 14 noted that the actor would be campaigning for BJP candidate Sudhir Mungantiwar from Chandrapur, Maharashtra. 

On April 16, Mungantiwar posted a video of Tandon campaigning for him on Facebook (archive here). The footage shows the actor holding a roadshow and requesting people to vote for the BJP. The polls in the Chandrapur constituency were held in the first phase on April 19.

According to reports, Tandon had campaigned for Congress during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. She had held a road show for the Congress candidate from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat, Naveen Jindal. We were unable to find any reports of her campaigning for Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The verdict

A video of Indian actor Raveena Tandon campaigning for Congress in 2012 is being falsely linked to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. She actually campaigned for the BJP during the ongoing general election, not Congress. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.