TikTok video claiming Prachanda handed Rs 5 million to trap Lamichhane is misleading

TikTok users have claimed that a video shows an evidence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ giving Rs 5 million to Yubaraj Paudel ‘Saphal’ to entrap former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.

The video in question features Prachanda speaking about the construction of a road that connects the eastern Nepal plains with a town in the mountain district of Panchthar. The text superimposed on the video falsely claims that it presents evidence of Prachanda giving money to Paudel to trap Lamichhane. However, the context of the video is unrelated to this claim.

On January 27, 2023, the Supreme Court revoked Lamichhane’s status as a lawmaker, citing an invalid citizenship certificate he produced to contest the November 20, 2022 elections. Advocate Yubaraj Paudel ‘Saphal’  had filed the case in the Supreme Court against Lamichhane, the president of Rashtriya Swatantra Party. Lamichhane is a candidate from the RSP in the by-election in Chitwan Constituency no: 2. This is the context in which the video has been widely circulated on TikTok.

TikTok user @love_is_life292 posted the video with the claim on February 27, 2023. The video, which has been viewed over 400,000 times, shows Prime Minister Prachanda speaking on the phone while four policemen watch him on a television screen. In the video, he is speaking on the phone, while four policemen watch him on a television screen. The text superimposed in the video reads, “A strong evidence has been found that Prachanda gave Rs 5 million to Yubaraj (Paudel) to trap Lamichhane.” 

Prachanda is heard saying in the video:

The road links Urlabari [of Morang district] with Rabi [a town in Panchthar district]. [Former Speaker] Subash Chandra Nemwang and others have pressed the contractor. As a result, the other side is already in place. This section must be completed. People have started to surround them. One thing is that  [former minister] Renu Yadav’s son-in-law is the contractor who was awarded the contract in 2011. Of course, you can settle this. I will send these people to you. You should resolve this as soon as you can. The seven kilometers [stretch of the road] is the most sensitive.

Prachanda

To verify the video’s authenticity, Nepal Check searched for it on Google and Facebook using Nepali keywords related to the road. We found a video of Prachanda’s conversation on Purbi Command Online’s Facebook page, which appeared to show him instructing someone ahead of the nationwide polls on November 20, 2022. But we could not find the original version of the video.

A screengrab of the video published in Purbi Command Online’s Facebook page on Nov 11, 2022.

Our findings show that TikTok users falsely shared the video clip where Prachanda used the word “Rabi” to mislead people. It was falsely linked to former deputy prime minister and home minister Lamichhane.

In conclusion, the claim that the video shows Prachanda giving money to Paudel to trap Lamichhane is misleading. The video’s context is unrelated to the claim. It actually features Prachanda discussing the delay in construction of a road in eastern Nepal.

ClaimClaimed byNepal Check Verdict
Video shows evidence of Prachanda giving Rs 5 million to trap Rabi Lamichhane.TikTok users.Misleading
Nepal Check verdict after fact-checking a viral video with claims it shows evidence of Prachanda giving Rs 5 million to trap Rabi Lamichhane.

This article is written by

Deepak Adhikari

Deepak Adhikari is the editor of Nepal Check. Over the last two decades, he has worked as a correspondent for international media and national publications in Nepal. His work has appeared in major international publications such as New York Times, The Guardian, Time, Al Jazeera, Nikkei Asia.